A publication for Alumni and Friends of Kent State University
Spring 2006 Volume 5 — Issue 3
m A G a z i n e
Clear Water
REVIVAL
Research lends credence
to Lake Erie “dead zone”
dangers
HOPE
Is Just a Click Away
Technology helps veterans
with disabilities earn degrees
w w w . k e n t . e d u
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Serving the Needs of Students
and the World Beyond
C a r t w r i g h t ,
P r e s i d e n t
Kent State president Carol A.
Cartwright poses with men’s golf
coach Herb Page, ’74, M.A. ’76, at
the groundbreaking ceremony for
the new golf teaching and learning
center at the Kent State golf course
in August 2005. Find out more about
this new facility on page 16.
On the cover:
Dr. Robert Heath, Kent State
professor of biological sciences,
monitors readings broadcast
from the wheelhouse of the
R.V. Lake Guardian. Heath led a
team of scientists and students
studying Lake Erie’s bacteria and
phosphorus dynamics.
Photograph by B o b C h r i s t y, ‘ 9 5
Photograph by B o b C h r i s t y, ‘ 9 5
Illustration by N i c k M o o r e , ‘ 9 0
C4-C1_Covers.indd 3
W
elcome to the spring
2006 issue of Kent State
Magazine.
A university has a dual
role both to improve the
world we live in and to
prepare individuals to succeed in that world. This
issue features two compelling examples of Kent State
meeting that high standard
— engaging the world well
beyond our campuses.
The first shows the
university’s leadership in
preserving a crucial regional
resource, Lake Erie, and by
extension protecting the
Great Lakes and freshwater
supplies worldwide. The
second partners Kent State
with America’s Veteran Affairs to provide online degree
programs — and hope — to
veterans with disabilities.
For the 12 million
people who live in the Lake
Erie watershed, the lake is
a source of beauty, recreation, drinking water and
economic vitality. But the
lake remains threatened
by various forms of pollution and invasive plants
and microbial life-forms.
Kent State is involved in a
historic multiagency, international investigation of the
lake. Principal investigator
Dr. Robert Heath, Kent
State professor of biological sciences and head of the
Water Resources Research
Institute, is leading a team
of Kent State graduate and
undergraduate students who
are pioneering microbial
ecology techniques to better
understand and improve
the entire lake ecosystem
— which is also the home
of those of us who live in
Northeast Ohio.
Another crucial resource,
human talent, is the focus of
a second Kent State initiative, in partnership with
the Louis Stokes Cleveland
Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) Medical Center.
This collaborative program
addresses the needs of
thousands of veterans with
disabilities, providing them
access to any online degree
offered in the United States,
and supporting them during
the challenges of education and rehabilitation.
The program is directed
by Dr. Joseph Drew, Kent
State associate professor
of political science and
director of the university’s
online Master of Public
Administration (M.P.A.), the
only such degree program in
the nation that exceeds the
government’s standards for
disability access.
At Kent State, we embrace the public-service idea
that no one is an island. Our
own mission is to improve
the quality of life of all those
we serve. Sometimes that
involves regionwide research
and development. Often it
involves helping individuals find their way, especially
important groups such as
veterans, to whom so much
is owed. These veterans are
not alone now. Kent State
has a habit of changing lives.
Scott Pettit, an employee of The White
Rubber Corporation, removes rubber
from molds at the Ravenna facility. The
formed rubber will become industrial
gloves. Find out how Kent State is helping this company; see story on page 17.
Photograph by G a r y H a r w o o d , ‘ 8 3
A .
Photograph by G a r y H a r w o o d , ‘ 8 3
C a r o l
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Kent State Magazine • Spring 2006 • Volume 5 • Issue 3
c o n t e n t s
Features
Kent state
M A G A Z I N E
Spring 2006 • Volume 5 • Issue 3
Board of Trustees
R. Douglas Cowan, ’64, Chair
Sandra W. Harbrecht, ’71, Vice Chair
Andrew J. Banks
George L. Jenkins, ’63
Erin E. Klemen, student
Patrick S. Mullin, ’71
Kimberly L. Thompson, student
Jane Murphy Timken
Brian D. Tucker, ’75
Jacqueline F. Woods
Executive Officers
Dr. Carol A. Cartwright, President
Dr. Paul L. Gaston, Provost
Photograph by B o b C h r i s t y, ‘ 9 5
Clear Water Revival... page 2
Research lends credence to Lake Erie "dead
zone" dangers.
Hope Is Just a Click Away... page 6
Technology helps veterans with disabilities
earn degrees.
Lights, Camera... Entertainment!... page 8
Technical skill and artistry take center stage.
A Touch of Winter in Spring... page 9
Guest director brings Shakespeare to Kent State.
Beyond the Books... page 10
NASA librarian typifies modern professional.
Materials digital library speeds up researchto-classroom process.
Taking Care of Business... page 12
Innovation, anticipation and a solid foundation
spell success.
Team Dreams Come True... page 16
Golf program adds training and teaching facility.
Besting Goliath... page 17
Local business gains competitive edge with help
from Kent State.
Success Is No Secret... page 18
Upward Bound program attracts quality students.
Found in Translation... page 20
Student honored for translation of Russian
children's memoirs.
Creating "New Literacy" Leaders... page 21
Educator encourages nontraditional media
in the classroom.
Issue to Issue
News Flash
page 22
• New poetry corner
• Heat and power project earns
state award
• New field hockey field
• Democracy symposium examines
policy debate
Class Notes
page 24
• Distinguished Teaching Award
• Alumni Association offers new
resort vacation benefits
• MAC basketball tournament events
• Class of '56 to celebrate reunion
• New annual membership category
Upcoming Events
Back cover
Dr. Patricia A. Book
Vice President, Regional Development
Dr. David K. Creamer, M.S.A. ’86, Ph.D. ’90
Vice President, Administration
Dr. Harold Goldsmith
Vice President,
Enrollment Management and Student Affairs
Carolyn Deasy Pizzuto
Vice President, Human Resources
Dr. Kathy L. Stafford, ’70
Vice President,
University Relations and Development
Edward G. Mahon
Vice President, Information Services,
and Chief Information Officer
Magazine Editorial Committee
Thomas R. Neumann
Associate Vice President,
University Communications & Marketing
Flo Cunningham, ’83, M.A. ’86
Director, University Communications
and Marketing
Editor
For the complete list of committee
members, follow the Contact link at
www.kent.edu/magazine.
Comments and letters can be sent to:
University Communications and Marketing,
Kent State University, P.O. Box 5190, Kent,
Ohio 44242-0001 or magazine@kent.edu.
www.kent.edu
Published quarterly in conjunction with
Great Lakes Publishing Co., 1422 Euclid Ave.
Suite 730, Cleveland, Ohio 44115
ksumag@glpublishing.com
Correction: An article about
Kent State's regional development
efforts (Kent State Magazine, Winter
2005) incorrectly stated 80 million
adults in Ohio do not have a college
degree. According to a 2004 report
by the U.S. Census Bureau, 80 million adults in the United States do
not have a college degree.
page
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Research lends credence to
Lake Erie “dead zone” dangers
clear water
R E V I V
“It is even more necessary than ever for mankind as a whole
to have an intelligent knowledge of the environment
if our complex civilization is to survive, since the basic laws
of nature have not been repealed.”
— Dr. Eugene P. Odum, University of Georgia
page
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By Lisa Lambert, M.A. ’05
Photographs by Bob Christy, '95
I
sat in my grandmother’s kitchen, captivated by the natural phe-
nomenon unfolding beyond her picture window: A resplendent sunset of
purples, pinks and oranges painted the sky in broad streaks, as the sun, a
ball of fire, slowly, and then quickly, disappeared behind the blue-gray veil
of rippling water.
As a child, I believed such a site was only possible in this very special place. Even now, though I’ve witnessed picturesque sunsets in other
V A L
locales, the impact of a Lake Erie sunset is extraordinary.
For lake lovers, the shore is a sanctuary, the fish and wildlife supported by the lake a form of sustenance, sport and spectacle. For the
budding geologist sifting through the rocks and sediment left by the tide,
or the amateur ornithologist, the lake is essential.
Lake Erie was an integral part of my grandparents’ lives, both
as a source of income and enjoyment. They judged the seasons by the
mood of the lake, just as scientists judge the health of the Great Lakes
ecosystem by the changes in its waters.
“Lake Erie is the bellwether,” says Dr. Robert Heath, Kent
State professor of biological sciences and head of the Water
Resources Research Institute. Because of its size, depth
and location, he says, Lake Erie serves as a crystal ball
2-5_Lake Erie.indd
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Dr. Robert Heath, Kent State professor of biological sciences (right), and other researchers take water
samples from a rosette on the deck of the R.V. Lake Guardian. The rosette pulls samples from different depths
and also sends back real-time information on oxygen levels and temperature.
— scientists who peer into
its waters glimpse the future
of the other Great Lakes.
Lakes offer
sustenance, sport
The Laurentian Great
Lakes, whose fingers extend
into eight states and across
international borders to
Canada, include lakes Erie,
Huron, Superior, Ontario
and Michigan. They served
as the gateway to the interior of North America and
a necessary route for commerce and trade.
Approximately 12 million
people live in the Lake Erie
watershed; the lake provides
drinking water for about 11
million of these inhabitants
and boasts more fish production than all of the other
lakes combined.
Sport fishing in Lake
Erie is a multimillion-dollar industry. Of the Great
Lakes, Erie is second only
to Lake Michigan in sport
fishing, and its western basin
is known as the Walleye
Capital of the World.
“It’s a huge economic
resource because of its commercial appeal,” says Kent
State research assistant and
doctoral candidate Tracey
Meilander.
page
Most importantly, the
Great Lakes, which formed
as glaciers scraped the Earth
during the last ice age, now
constitute the largest body
of freshwater on the planet,
providing 20 percent of the
total supply.
Pollution threatens
Despite the importance of
the lake as a source of drinking water, water quality did
not become an express concern to the public until the
1960s. At that time, the lake
was “dying” — like a person
with an undetected terminal disease — as excessive
phosphorus from agricultural runoff, detergent-laden
wastewater and insufficiently
treated sewage entered the
lake. Together, these posed
a health threat to swimmers
and wildlife and stimulated
the growth of algae and
bacteria. The rapid growth
of these organisms created
oxygen-starved, or eutrophic,
conditions, Heath says.
The Great Lakes share
their borders with states that
relied heavily upon industry
for growth and prosperity.
With industrial prosperity
came industrial pollution in
the form of polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs), which
often were discharged into
tributaries or lake waters.
Though their use has been
banned, PCBs are hearty
organic chemicals that don’t
degrade well — they remain
in the ecosystem, accumulated in sediment near harbors
and industrial sites.
As invasive species of
plants and microbial lifeforms jockeyed for position
within the lake ecosystem,
a similar battle played out
on the lake’s shores, as the
fishing industry, shipping
industry, residents and
politicians campaigned for
lake management policies
to satisfy their special interests. Everyone would lose
if something wasn’t done to
stop the cycle of nature set
in motion by human activity.
Erie struggles
to survive
By the late 1960s, seasonal algal blooms spread
over entire portions of two
of the lake’s three basins.
According to Environmental
Education for Ohio, a
statewide portal for environmental education resources,
mats of algae washed ashore,
fouling beaches, and newspaper headlines announced,
“Lake Erie Is Dead.” While
the entire lake was not, in
fact, dead, one area, known
as a “dead zone,” expanded
greatly during the heyday of
phosphorus loading.
Scientists have traced the
existence of the dead zone,
a shallow area in the lake’s
central basin, to at least
the 1930s. Like all living
organisms, the prolific algae
eventually died, dropped to
the bottom of the lake and
decayed. This process robs
the bottom of the lake of
oxygen, Heath explains.
As waters warm in the
spring and summer months,
the situation worsens.
Oxygen-depleted water
became trapped on the bottom of the lake beneath a
naturally occurring thermal
barrier. Only the tiniest creatures, such as bacteria, can
live in these conditions. Fish
and other animals that swim
into the dead zone simply die
from lack of oxygen.
As the central basin dead
zone grew to its historically
largest area, Canadian and
American regulatory agencies agreed that limiting
phosphorus loads was the
key to controlling excessive algal growth and that a
broad, inclusive approach to
lake management was necessary. The approach included
instituting clean water laws,
building sewage treatment
plants and banning phosphorous from most detergents.
For the first time, international cooperation produced environmental results.
Phosphorus levels were
reduced to a third of what
they had been.
Fast-forward two decades.
As any avid boater will
tell you, the phrase “fast and
furious” accurately describes
a Lake Erie storm. One
minute you’re enjoying the
vast expanse of blue sky, sun
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Online exclusive:
Find out more about Kent State’s efforts to preserve our ecosystem
at www.kent.edu/magazine.
glinting off of calm waters,
and the next minute dark
clouds swirl overhead as
wind and waves batter your
tiny vessel. In the 1990s,
the emergence of nonpoint
source pollution as a threat
to the lake’s ecosystem came
about in a similar fashion,
catching the scientific community off guard.
This hard-to-monitor
form of pollution can include
oil washed off parking lots
by storms, or pesticides and
fertilizers carried into water
supplies from farm fields or
suburban and urban development. And it may be a culprit
in the growth of Lake Erie’s
central basin dead zone, where
the concentration of nutrients
has increased steadily in recent
years, baffling scientists.
“In our desire to have
many things, we are causing
the damage,” Heath says.
“We want to have a strong
agricultural industry in our
state, but Lake Erie is the
only Great Lake where
agriculture is the main
watershed activity.” Heath
notes the other lakes are
surrounded primarily by forest rather than farmland.
A multiagency, international investigation is under
way to uncover the causes of
dead zone growth. It involves
state and local governments
and several universities,
including Kent State. The
International Field Year on
Lake Erie (IFYLE) initiative, through the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration’s (NOAA)
Great Lakes Environmental
Research Laboratory, is
billed as one of the most
comprehensive Lake Erie
research field programs ever
conducted.
Dead zones
threaten ecosystem
Heath is principal investigator on an International
Field Year grant, and
Meilander is a co-investigator. The Kent State team
focuses on microbial ecology of Lake Erie and phosphorus dynamics. They are
among a cadre of scientists
examining various issues
including: (1) the causes and
consequences of dead zones,
(2) the factors that lead to
harmful algal blooms and (3)
how lake physics and food
webs affect fish production.
In 2005, the Kent State
team, comprised of undergraduate and graduate students, made five week-long
Lake Erie cruises on the RV
Tracey Meilander, a doctoral candidate in biological sciences, assists
with Lake Erie dead zone research.
Dr. Robert Heath prepares water
samples in a lab on board the R.V.
Lake Guardian.
Lake Guardian, a research
vessel fully equipped with laboratory space. They collected
data from water samples at
more than 50 research stations and currently are completing the data analysis phase
of their work.
“We’re looking at bacterial activity in the specimens
we’ve collected,” Meilander
says, “including how many
there are, how big they are,
how much they’re growing,
how much they’re using up
different nutrients, and how
much of those nutrients are
contained in their cells.”
The Kent State team is
breaking new ground, using
molecular methods only
recently available to scientists
to extract DNA from bacteria in the hopes of identifying what they are. “No one
has done molecular work like
this on bacteria in the Great
Lakes,” Meilander says.
Heath, a pioneer in these
techniques, explains that
microbial ecology is a field
in its infancy. “Now molecular methods are available to
answer questions we’ve asked
before but have never been
able to answer,” he says.
The aim of the
International Field Year
on Lake Erie initiative is
not only to understand the
ecosystem, but ultimately to
apply scientific understanding to develop tools and
products useful to stewards
of the lake’s resources and,
as National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration
administrator Dr. Stephen
Brandt states, “refocus
research capabilities for prediction rather than explanation.” The Kent State team
plans to release a full report,
detailing its contributions to
the initiative, in May 2006.
Inasmuch as Lake Erie
is a bellwether, so too is
the Great Lakes region,
with its history of leading
the nation in innovative
science and management
strategies. Scientists and
others in lake communities hope the International
Field Year initiative will
represent another step forward toward preserving and
improving the beauty and
economic viability of one of
the Earth’s most precious
natural resources.
At the heart of this
decades-long quest remains
the ecosystem.
“The ecosystem is not an
entity out there that we can
choose to protect or not,”
Heath says. “We are part
of the ecosystem and have
a strong vested interest in
protecting its efficient operation. We have a stronger
interest than our behavior
would often indicate.”
For more information,
visit www.kent.edu/
magazine.
page
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B y M e l i s s a E d l e r, ’ 0 0
HOPE
Photographs by Jeff Glidden, '87
is just a click away
Technology helps veterans with
disabilities earn degrees
Dr. Joseph Drew (right), Kent State
associate professor of political
science, assists Todd Mix, a student
in the distance learning program
started by Drew at the Louis Stokes
Cleveland Department of Veteran
Affairs Medical Center.
page
T
he silence is deafening; tension and excitement
hang in the air. Thousands
of eyes watch the lone
figure at the front of the
group, waiting for a single
motion. The signal is given,
and hundreds of soldiers
returning from Iraq rush
toward their loved ones in a
passionate display of hugs,
kisses and tears.
These are the men and
women who return from
war unharmed. But for
the thousands of soldiers
who become physically
disabled while serving their
country, the homecoming
reception is not quite the
same. They are likely to
face a long and difficult
recovery — both physical
and emotional. They and
their families will contend
with their disability for the
rest of their lives. Many will
become discouraged and
lose faith in the future.
Kent State University has partnered with the
Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veteran Affairs
(VA) Medical Center to
offer disabled veterans the
opportunity for a brighter
outlook — through online
access to college degrees
and, with that, the possibility of a successful career.
“I want to provide hope
for veterans with disabilities
— hope they can rebuild
their lives in a relatively
short period of time,” says
Dr. Joseph Drew, Kent
State associate professor
of political science and
director of the program,
the first of its kind in the
nation at a VA hospital to
allow veterans with physical
disabilities to acquire any
online degree offered in the
United States.
He adds, “It is impor-
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tant to reach the soldiers
Chester Ho, acting SCI chief,
as soon as possible,” noting
is responsible for identifying
worries about down time
veterans with physical disabiland patient frustration that
ities that affect their learning.
can occur in some rehabili“For patients with spinal
tation settings.
cord injury, vocational and
Drew modeled this inieducational rehab has always
tiative on a similar project he been a challenge, but this is
developed at Kent State usa great opportunity to help
ing a successful combination
our veterans achieve their
of computer disability stagoals,” he says.
tions (specifically designed to
Special software places
accommodate persons who
the students in a simulated
are quadriplegic or blind)
classroom where they can inand the university’s only
teract with their instructors
entirely online degree proand other students online.
gram, a Master of Public Ad- The adaptive equipment for
ministration (M.P.A.), which
persons who are quadriplegic
Drew directs. This M.P.A. is
uses a small camera set on
the only such program in the top of the computer monination that meets or exceeds
tor that receives signals from
the standards of the Amerian electronic mouse sensor,
cans with Disabilities Act
driven by head or tongue
and other legislation dealing
movements. For people who
with electronic accessibility
are visually impaired, special
for persons with disabilities.
software reads the text and
Although he created the
descriptions of graphics on
online M.P.A. to serve
the screen out loud. The
persons with physical distext can then be printed in
abilities, caregivers and those Braille using a unique voiceswamped by
instructed
“There is hesitancy printer.
workloads and
family obliga“There is
for people with dis- hesitancy for
tions, Drew
realized the
people with
abilities to enroll in disabilities to
potential to
apply the same
enroll in colcollege, because they lege, because
technology to
help severely
they feel they
feel they won’t have won’t have
injured veterans returning
the services
the services they need they need to
from Iraq and
previous wars.
be successful,”
to be successful.”
Each year
says Chrysapproximately
talyn Sowin400 newly injured veterans
ski, ’00, a 2004 graduate of
and active duty members
Kent State’s online M.P.A.
receive rehabilitation at VA
program. While not all
centers in the United States.
online M.P.A. students have
Some of the most critically
disabilities — some take the
injured are at the Spinal
online course for the sake
Cord Injury/Dysfunction
of convenience — Sowinski
(SCI) Unit at the Stokes
has cerebral palsy. She adds,
VA Medical Center, where
“This program takes away
the new joint educational
the barriers and excuses for
program is located. Dr.
not attending class.”
challenge for
these veterans in
their pursuit of
higher education.
The treatments
interrupt their
studies, and they
can fall behind
quickly. But
with a computer lab and a
distance-learning coordinator
located right
Cameras like this, mounted atop computers
in the hospital,
at the VA Medical Center, can read a head- or
tongue-driven electronic mouse sensor, allowing they are able to
students who are quadriplegic to use a computer. keep up on their
coursework.
“With today’s
Sowinski now has a fulladvances in special technolotime job with Tri-County
gies available for persons
Independent Living Center
with physical disabilities and
Inc. She works to ensure
the change in the nature of
people with disabilities are
work, from physical tasks to
not discriminated against
computer-information-based
in their search for housing
work, this affords severely
and says she is proud to be
disabled veterans a chance
part of the workforce. “The
to rebuild their lives,” says
program has helped me be
Cynthia L. Davis, VA-based
more independent in my
distance learning project
work and academic endeavcoordinator.
ors,” she explains.
“There are a lot of peoVeterans with disabilities
ple like me with disabilities,”
face several barriers in their
says Todd Mix, a hopeful stuefforts to earn a college
dent of the program. While
degree. For example, geta senior at the University
ting to and from classes can
of Akron, Todd joined the
prove difficult, especially for
Navy’s nuclear submarine
those who have to contend
program and was sent to
with winter weather in
Iraq. After an accident last
Northeast Ohio. To address
year, Todd had brain damage
this problem, Drew sends
that left him paralyzed.
home all adaptive equip“These people are
ment needed by students
to take their classes online.
trapped in their bodies, but
“For those who can’t get
they still have a lot to conout, the education comes to
tribute to society,” says Betty
them,” says student Leonard
Hallbank, treasurer, Buckeye Mix, Todd’s mother. “We
need to give them the tools
Chapter, Paralyzed Veterans
of America. “If you have
to get out.”
what you need right in your
That’s what this program
home, you never have a
is all about.
problem with transportation
For more information,
or bad weather.”
visit
www.kent.edu/
Frequent and lengthy
magazine.
hospital stays pose another
page
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LIGHTS, CAMERA…
ENTERTAINMENT!
Technical skill and artistry take center stage
I
page
8
magine the Broadway
production The Lion
King without the music
or the elaborate lighting that
lends shadows and soft glows
to transport audiences to
distant lands.
Like a chemical reaction,
the elements of a performance can be isolated and
examined apart from one
another, but the reaction, or
performance, would not be
complete without each of
these parts. Modern technology has made human
fantasy a reality best expressed through entertainment. Concert goers, theatre
patrons and even conference
audiences understand the
subtle, and sometimes notso-subtle, cues that signal
beginnings, ends and all of
the emotional peaks and valleys in between during any
given event.
With great leaps in
technological ability comes
the need for skilled human
intervention to orchestrate
and guide audiences through
entertainment experiences. But 20 years of steady
growth has led to a labor
shortage in the entertainment industry, says Steve
Zapytowski, Kent State
professor of theatre. “As the
industry is becoming more
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more innovative, compaK ENT S TATE M AGAZINE
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nies continue to search for
educated, talented people to
hire,” he says.
A new Entertainment
Arts and Technologies
Certificate Program at Kent
State was designed in
response to industry needs
and to give students handson experience in stage
scenery and lighting, sound
design, event-based video
production and more.
The certificate, offered
through the School of Theatre and Dance for the first
time in fall 2005, is one of
just a few such programs in
the country.
Senior Monica Falatic is
taking advantage of the opportunity. “It takes technical
skill and artistry to be successful in this field,” she says.
Falatic is working on sound
design for a Kent State
musical and has completed
two internships at Porthouse
Theatre in Cuyahoga Falls,
Ohio. She says the additional
training will pay off when
she starts her job search.
“With the certificate, you
can do a diverse number of
jobs,” she says.
Some of the possibilities
for qualified professionals in
this area include nationally
touring rock concerts, sales
and business meetings for
corporations, trade shows,
professional athletic venues,
By Lisa Lambert, M.A. ’05
sports entertainment, film
and video production, live
stage productions, indoor
and outdoor theme parks,
special events, the casino
entertainment industry and
cable or satellite television.
Each certificate consists
of six courses that include
practical production experience and real-world internships, in addition to specially
selected courses in theatre
and video technology.
Industry partners of the
program currently include
Vincent Lighting Systems,
RCS Corporation, Colortone
Audio Visual Staging and
Rentals, and Cedar Point.
Zapytowski explains
that certificate training has
become widely respected
as employers strive to meet
safety standards and stay
ahead of the curve in the
constantly evolving entertainment industry.
“Employers have come
to understand they need to
hire lifelong learners because
the technology changes so
rapidly,” Zapytowski says.
“Creating lifelong learners is
what we pride ourselves in.”
“The School of Theatre
and Dance offers a solidly
structured curriculum and
plenty of hands-on experience for students seeking a
career in the entertainment
production industry,” says
Melissa Hensler, a student in the
entertainment arts and technologies program, prepares paint for
scenery for a fall 2005 production.
Photograph by B o b C h r i s t y, ‘ 9 5
Gary Jurist, president, RCS
Corporation, one of the
largest full-service event
production companies in
Northeast Ohio.
The certificate can be
pursued as part of a bachelor’s degree program or an
associate degree program,
such as at a Regional Campus, Zapytowski says. Students at Kent State Ashtabula, for example, can enroll in
the entertainment arts and
technology classes without
being formally admitted
to a degree program. The
Ashtabula Campus was chosen for the program because
of its close relationship with
the Ashtabula Arts Center,
which offers classes and performances in acting, dance
and sculpture, and could
benefit from a program like
this, Zapytowski says.
“This provides a link between the students, the university and the community,”
he adds. “Students will gain
practical internal experience,
and the arts center could
grow as a result.”
For more information,
visit www.kent.edu/magazine. (Renee Freismuth, ’05,
contributed to this article.)
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A Touch of Winter IN SPRING
Guest director brings Shakespeare to Kent State
says Dr. John R. Crawford,
director of the School of
Theatre and Dance. “The
wealth of expertise and
Photograph by J e f f G l i d d e n , ’ 8 7
W
orld-renowned
director and actor
Vincent Dowling
will direct Shakespeare’s
The Winter’s Tale this spring
for Kent State’s School of
Theatre and Dance, as part
of the Roe Green Visiting
Director Series.
Dowling is a lifetime
associate artistic director
of the Abbey Theatre in
Dublin, Ireland. Locally,
Dowling is remembered for
his contributions of nearly a
decade (1976–84) as the producing director of the Great
Lakes Shakespeare Festival
in Cleveland. In 1997 Dowling presented Kent State
with a collection of various
materials from his years
at the festival, including
scripts, production notes and
related items, such as video
recordings of interviews with
Dowling and sound recordings of plays performed
during his tenure. In 2003 he
received an honorary Doctor
of Humane Letters from the
university for “his lifelong career in theatre and his global
contributions to the arts,”
according to the citation.
Dowling has played more
than 100 major roles in his
45-year professional career,
most of them in Dublin’s
Abbey Theatre. He also has
appeared at the Edinburgh
International Festival and
in productions in Boston,
Chicago, Cleveland, Kansas
City, New York, Florence,
London and Paris. He is the
founding and artistic director of the Miniature Theatre
of Chester, Mass., as well.
“We are thrilled to have a
director of such prominence
and international renown as
Vincent Dowling work with
our students at Kent State,”
By Lisa Lambert, M.A. ’05
World-renowned director and actor Vincent Dowling conducts auditions for the
upcoming School of Theatre and Dance production of The Winter’s Tale this spring.
experience that Dowling
brings to the rehearsal studio
and the stage from his many
years as a performer and
artistic and producing director is invaluable. We extend
much gratitude and appreciation to Roe Green, who has
made this residency possible
through her generosity to the
School of Theatre and Dance.”
Green, M.A. ’80, a local
arts patron and activist, established the Visiting Director
Series through the Roe Green
Foundation. She serves on
the School of Theatre and
Dance and Porthouse Theatre
advisory boards.
For more information,
visit www.kent.edu/
magazine.
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Beyond
NASA librarian typifies modern professional
By Jim Szatkowski, ’80, M.A. ’94
Photograph by J e f f G l i d d e n , ’ 8 7
or career and then
decide to change
careers after being out in the work
world for a while.
They look around
for things that they
found interesting
and see libraries as a
place of intellectual
stimulation.”
Lucas-Stannard
fits that description to a T. She got
into the field after
considering other
careers, and now
spends most of her
time working with
Web sites and other
digital products as a
librarian and technical information
specialist.
Although she
started out wanting
a career in science
— she has an underPaige Lucas-Stannard, M.L.S. ’04, M.S. ’05, is a librarian
graduate degree in
and technical information specialist at the NASA Glenn
physics and geology
Research Center in Cleveland.
from The University
of Akron — LucasStannard says she soon realized that
s a librarian at the NASA Glenn
climbing the ladder in the science
Research Center in Cleveland, Paige
field meant she’d have to specialize,
Lucas-Stannard, ’04, says she gets a
but she wanted a broader experience.
“bird’s-eye view” of the space program
She added a degree in education, but
and trips to Mars and beyond.
decided that classroom teaching was
Lucas-Stannard may be the poster
not her forte.
child for the next wave of librarians,
“Then it hit me — I was a biblioas described by Dr. Richard Rubin,
phile. My favorite place was the
M.L.S. ’76, director of the School
library. As a librarian in the science
of Library and Information Science
field, I can experience all of it,” she says.
(SLIS) at Kent State, Ohio’s only
She received her Master of Library
American Library Association-accredand Information Science degree in
ited program.
2004 from Kent State University, and
“It is a late-decider career,” he says.
took a job at NASA following a practi“People typically start out in a major
cum there. While working full time, she
A
page
added a Master of Science degree in
information architecture and knowledge management (IAKM), graduating
in May 2005.
She considers many of her classes
— in both the library science and information architecture programs — to have
been great preparation for what she does
today and hopes to do in the future.
“There will still be brick and mortar
libraries, but a lot of what will be done
will involve electronic resources,” that
can be delivered to a desktop, she says.
“Information systems are becoming
more complex, and librarians will have
to help people learn how to use them.”
That’s exactly what she does: LucasStannard helps NASA researchers
comb through the galaxy of information available to them, trying to find the
best and most appropriate resources.
“There are so many resources out
there; how do you know which one is
the best? Also, some of the research
(information) products are complicated
to use, and a researcher may spend all
day just learning how to search it.
“As a librarian, I guide on how to
search for the information and help
determine what resources would be
the best for their needs,” she says,
adding that the scientists are generally
appreciative of librarians’ ability to
deliver information.
She is also trying to dispel the
stereotype of librarians.
“I don’t have a bun (in my hair)
or wear sensible shoes and ‘shush’
people in the library,” she says. “I use
information technology abilities to
educate people.
“And I get to work with rocket
scientists — how cool is that?”
For more information about the
public areas of the NASA Glenn library
Web site and about the changing roles
of librarians, follow the links at
www.kent.edu/magazine.
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the Books
Materials digital library speeds up research-to-classroom process
By Rachel Wenger, ’00
ent State University was awarded
$1.5 million of a $2.7 million four-year
National Science Foundation grant that
places the university at the helm of a
collaboration supporting materials science research, education and information dissemination.
As part of the NSF’s National
Science Digital Library, the Materials
Digital Library Pathway has Kent State
leading a partnership with the National
Institute of Standards and Technology,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
University of Michigan, Purdue University and Iowa State University.
Laura Bartolo, professor,
materials informatics lab, and the
project’s principal investigator, says
one of the reasons NSF supported the
program is because of its multi-institutional and multidisciplinary nature.
“With information science and
materials science coming together, this
is not a typical collaboration,” Bartolo
says. “The way the partnership was
organized made it especially appealing
because it is such a vibrant cross-mix.”
The NSF award recognizes the leadership position of Kent State and its College
of Arts and Sciences in the materials science and informatics arena, says Dr. Jerry
Feezel, interim dean of the college.
“I am very pleased that Professor
Bartolo’s prior research and grant
development efforts
have resulted in a
project with longrange potential for
strengthening the
sharing of scientific
research to advance
American society,”
Feezel says.
Materials science
is the study of characteristics and uses
of various materials
— such as metals,
metals, ceramics and
plastics — that are
employed in science
and technology. Kent
State’s contributions
to the Materials
Research Associate Cathy Lowe (left) and Professor Laura Bartolo
Digital Library will
are project manager and principal investigator, respectively, for
include providing
the Materials Digital Library Pathway.
tools to describe,
archive and disBartolo says the project’s research
seminate data among
national and international government- mission will help to realize the National
Science Foundation’s aspirations for the
funded materials teams and centers;
National Science Digital Library.
supporting open access development of
“It has been invigorating to
modeling and simulation tools; develenvision new ways of communicatoping services and content for virtual
ing, collaborating and disseminating
labs in large undergraduate introducknowledge in materials science,”
tory science courses; and creating an
Bartolo says.
online workspace for collaborative
For more information, visit
development of core undergraduate
www.kent.edu/magazine.
materials science teaching materials.
Photograph by B o b C h r i s t y, ‘ 9 5
K
Online exclusive:
David Jennings, ’77, M.L.S. ’81, is director of the Akron/Summit County
Public Library, which recently completed construction of a new building. Public libraries like this one are becoming increasingly important
in communities and for area businesses. For the complete story on the
changing role of libraries and librarians, visit “Knowledge Is Power,”
an online exclusive at www.kent.edu/magazine.
Photograph by G a r y H a r w o o d , ' 8 3
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Photograph by G a r y H a r w o o d , ' 8 3
Innovation, anticipation and a solid
foundation spell success
Taking care
By Jim Szatkowski, ’80, M.A. ’94
E
very business student
learns this basic lesson: Organizations that refuse to adapt
to the ebb and flow of the currents in the world of business
are often doomed to become
stuck in the muddy shallows
of the economy. Change is an
unsettling proposition to some
people and some organizations. But change is sometimes
the only sign of growth.
page
of Business
Leaders in Kent State
University’s College of
Business Administration and
Graduate School of Management have taken that lesson
to heart, and in recent years
have set in motion several
changes that position the
college to remain a leader in
business education.
With a reputation for
providing a solid across-the-
board business education,
the college has identified
three centers of excellence
— entrepreneurship, financial engineering and global
business — after consultation with college faculty and
staff, external advisers who
have a keen sense of coming needs and trends in the
business community, and the
university’s internal office
of Research, Planning and
Institutional Effectiveness.
Entrepreneurship:
Creating opportunities
for students, owners
One emerging center
of excellence might be
described by the slogan,
“Think globally, act locally.”
Entrepreneurs and small
businesses represent the
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entrepreneurial lab that
serves small businesses. For
a fee, an entrepreneur can
work with the lab to solve
problems related to his or
her business.
“Students get to work on
real-life problems under the
direction of expert faculty
who understand the situations that may come up, and
the business owner gets the
benefit of that expertise at a
reasonable cost,” Messing says.
Lee McMannis, ’70, a
College of Business Administration alumnus, brings
his business expertise to the
program by volunteering as
the first Entrepreneur-inResidence. McMannis, formerly the owner of Mickey
Thompson Performance
Tires and Wheels, learned
about the program through
his involvement on the
college’s Business Advisory
Council. He guides students
in projects they handle in
the lab.
The lab serves as a kind
of safety net for businesses.
The entrepreneur may
have a good idea, but may
not know a lot about running a business. The lab
can provide help along the
whole spectrum of business
operations — accounting,
taxation, marketing and
inventory — everything the
students will encounter in
their textbooks.
Another alumnus who
supports the program is
Michael Solomon, ’74, currently a member of the Kent
State University Foundation
Board of Directors. In 2000
he established an endowed
fund for a speakers’ series
bearing his name to bring
in leaders in the entrepreneurial community who can
offer vision and fresh ideas.
Solomon is an entrepreneur,
serving as CEO of Audyssey
Labs, maker of MultEQTM,
the only technology that
can correct room acoustics
problems for multiple listeners. He built his career in
the information technology
industry and helped to create the desktop publishing
industry in the late 1980s,
while serving as vice president of sales and marketing
at Aldus Corporation, the
publishers of PageMaker
software in Seattle.
“In all of our lecture
programs, which also include
the Pilliod and Biggar series,
we are looking to add value
to the traditional curriculum
by introducing students to
people who are leaders in
their respective fields,” says
George Stevens, D.B.A. ’79,
dean of the college.
Students who want to
work for large companies
can also benefit from the
program because organizations value the entrepreneurial spirit. “Too many (large)
companies march along in
lock step. They need bright
people who can put things
Photograph by B o b C h r i s t y, ‘ 9 5
fastest growing segment of
the economy and an important tool for job creation
and economic development.
Kent State’s College of Business Administration has a
number of centers and operations in place to serve small
businesses, including the
Center for Executive Education and Development, Ohio
Partnership for Excellence,
the Kent Regional Business
Alliance and its Small Business Development Center.
In addition to offering
an academic program that
teaches students about running a small business, the
college also provides support
for entrepreneurs who, in
turn, share their experiences
with students.
“Entrepreneurial centers
across the country contribute
greatly to the development
of their regional economies
and also prepare students
for careers as entrepreneurs.
It’s a win-win situation,” says
Julie Messing, who serves as
a marketing instructor and
head of the proposed Center
for Entrepreneurship and
Business Innovation.
Currently, students from
any major in the university
can take classes on entrepreneurial principles and work
toward a minor in entrepreneurship.
“They might be scientists, artists, writers or
anyone with a good idea for
a business who is willing to
work hard and take the risks
necessary to start a business,”
says Messing. “We provide
the background to help them
avoid the mistakes that come
when people unfamiliar with
business practices start their
own ventures.”
A large part of the curriculum involves experiential
learning, with opportunities provided through an
Dr. Mark Holder, director of the financial engineering program, points out features of the Olga A. Mural
Financial Engineering Trading Floor, a $2.2 million state-of-the-art facility with direct connections to the
futures exchanges.
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8:59:26 AM
together in new ways. That’s
a value-added situation for
any of our students who take
the entrepreneurial courses,”
he adds.
An entrepreneurial spirit
contributes to the success of
Kent State’s unique graduate program in financial
engineering, which — after
just more than three years
in operation — is ranked
13th in North America by
www.global-derivatives.com,
a site aimed at promoting
the education and expansion
of all things related to financial engineering, derivatives
and quantitative finance.
The “entrepreneur” in
this case is Mark Holder,
Ph.D. ’92, creator and head
of the Master of Science
in Financial Engineering (M.S.F.E.) program
and chair of the college’s
Department of Finance. He
previously worked for the
Chicago Board of Trade,
where he managed a group
that designed new futures
contracts.
In a discipline that merges theory and practice, students must attain proficiency
in both high-level math skills
and the analytical skills used
by traders. The year-long
program includes courses
ONLINE EXCLUSIVES:
Photograph by G a r y H a r w o o d , ' 8 3
Financial engineering:
Merging math and
business
The financial engineering trading floor is named in honor of Olga A. Mural, who has generously
supported the program.
taught by faculty in business
and in the Department of
Mathematical Science.
Financial engineers create pricing algorithms and
risk curves, spurred by global
trading and rapid advances
in technology. The field
demands individuals who
can quantify, assess, price
and forecast increasingly
complex financial outcomes.
The college has targeted
professionals who engage in
trading derivative products.
Visit www.kent.edu/magazine to read about these
initiatives in the College of Business Administration:
• College of Business Colleagues learning community
• Changes in the curriculum for the marketing program
• Accreditation of the Department of Accounting
page
A keystone of the program is the Olga A. Mural
Financial Engineering
Trading Floor, a $2.2 million
state-of-the-art facility that
rivals facilities in any professional firm in the world.
Using the same technology and data feeds that are
used in live trading, the floor
allows students to receive
hands-on experience in
derivatives trading and risk
management. It is the only
derivatives-oriented trading
floor in an academic institution in the country with
direct connections to the
futures exchanges.
A very generous gift
from Olga A. Mural, whose
husband, Walter V. Mural,
’41, received his Bachelor
of Business Administration at Kent State, will help
to sustain state-of-the-art
instruction and facilities for
the M.S.F.E. program. In
addition to providing assistance for the trading floor’s
operating expenses, her gift
established the Master of
Science in Financial Engineering Leadership Fund for
program faculty who demonstrate outstanding leadership, and endowed the Olga
A. Mural Associate Professoriate in Finance, the position
that Holder occupies.
The M.S.F.E. class that
started in fall 2005, with 20
students, is the largest of
the program’s three classes
so far. Students come from
many disciplines, institutions
and countries.
“There are only about 60
other schools in the world
that offer programs like
this,” Holder says. “It’s a big
investment for the university,
but it can pay big dividends.”
Holder, who worked in
Asian markets for the Chicago Board of Trade, was
able to land the Asia Pacific
Futures Research Symposium for Kent State,
previously organized by the
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Photograph by B o b C h r i s t y, ‘ 9 5
in 2003. The latter position
was established through gifts
from the BorgWarner Corporation and its former chief
executive officer, alumnus
John F. Fiedler, ’60.
Barnes, who has more
than 25 years of international business experience,
lived abroad and worked
for multinational institutions, including the World
Bank, the Union Bank of
Switzerland and the Industrial Bank of Japan. Most
recently he served as assistant dean and director of
the full-time M.B.A. pro-
Chicago Board of Trade
Educational Foundation.
In a great victory over
prestigious competition,
Kent State received $1.2
million from the foundation to support the symposium.
While interest in the
M.S.F.E. program is high in
Asia, individuals and firms
in Europe, Australia and Japan also have taken notice,
bringing Kent State to the
attention of many global
financial markets.
Global business:
Growing ideas from
solid roots
Choosing global business
as the third center of excellence allowed the college
to build on another tradition of strength that dates
back to the 1970s, with such
respected faculty members as
Drs. Anant Negandhi, John
Ryans and Jim Baker.
Photograph by B o b C h r i s t y, ‘ 9 5
Dr. Michael Barnes joined Kent
State in 2003 as the John F.
Fiedler-Borg Warner Endowed
Chair in Global Business Studies.
George Stevens, D.B.A. ’79, is dean of Kent State’s College of
Business Administration and Graduate School of Management.
Experts in this area today
include Dr. Michael Hu,
faculty member since 1981
and holder of the Bridgestone Endowed Chair in
International Business since
1994, and Dr. Michael J.
Barnes, the first corporate
executive to hold the John
F. Fiedler-BorgWarner
Endowed Chair in Global
Business Studies, beginning
gram at the Carlson School
of Management at the
University of Minnesota.
Previously he held several
administrative positions
at Case Western Reserve
University’s Weatherhead
School of Management
(where he earned an Executive Doctor of Management
while commuting every
three weeks from London).
“I want to focus on
raising awareness in our
learning community of the
interconnectedness of business, the challenges as well
as the opportunities of the
forces of globalization. And I
want to help build bridges of
substance between regional
companies and the College
of Business Administration,”
says Barnes.
Barnes serves as executive director of the
college’s Global Management Center, which brings
practitioners and academics
to campus to address timely
issues. The inaugural global
management lecture was
presented in October 2005
by Clyde V. Prestowitz,
president of the Economic
Strategy Institute.
In addition to learning
from global business experts
who come to Kent State,
students benefit from study
abroad to increase their
understanding of current
issues. The college has relationships with institutions
in Canada, France, Mexico
and Switzerland and is
selectively looking for other
opportunities. To address
the cost of international
study, the college has created specific international
travel scholarships.
***
The three areas of
excellence build on existing strengths, meet the
needs of the modern business world and break into
new and exciting areas.
Together, these programs
are positioned to take the
college to a higher level of
prestige and to provide an
outstanding education to
the 4,200 business majors
at the university.
page
15
G O L D E N
F L A S H E S
Team
Dream Comes True
Golf program
adds training and
teaching facility
W
hen the 2006-07
academic year begins, there
will be no need for Kent
State student golfers to retire
their clubs for the lengthy
Ohio winter. Thanks to
generous gifts from several
individuals, student-athletes
will have access to a new
$1.4 million teaching and
learning facility — a facility
that Herb Page, ’74, M.A.
’76, says will be “one of the
finest indoor/outdoor teaching, learning and practice
facilities in the nation.”
Page is highly qualified
to make that statement, having led the men’s program
for the past 28 years and
having taken his teams all
around the country to play.
Under his direction, the men
have produced 63 all-MAC
golfers, 19 All-Americans
and British Open Champion Ben Curtis, ’03. When
Curtis took home the British
Open Claret Jug in 2003, he
became the first player since
1913 to capture a major golf
championship on his first
try. Page says, “Truthfully, I
was not surprised when Ben
won. He was an outstanding
player when he came to Kent
State, and he just got better.
That’s the way it’s been for
many of our players.”
Although athletes in
page
Photograph by G a r y H a r w o o d , ‘ 8 3
By Pamela R. Anderson,
A.A. ’89, M.A. ’94
Director of Communications,
89.7 WKSU
Current and former members of the Kent State men’s and women’s golf teams tee off at the groundbreaking
ceremony for the new golf teaching and learning center at the Kent State University Golf Course.
Kent’s 75-year-old golf
program clearly have succeeded without the benefit
of a special facility, Page is
convinced that this new facility will be a huge asset. He
explains that golf has a “split
season.” His teams play five
tournaments in the fall and
another seven or eight in
the spring. During the late
fall and winter months, Kent
State players have limited
practice space at the university’s field house. When the
teams head south for tournaments in February, they do
not play as well as golfers
who have practiced every
day. Despite these barriers,
both the men’s and women’s
golf teams from Kent State
have been very competitive
and rank in the top-25 golf
programs in the nation.
One blustery day near
the end of October was
a perfect example of bad
weather affecting student
golfers, who dressed in rain
gear and carried umbrellas
just so they could squeeze in
a few more hours of practice.
A year from now, weather
will be no hindrance as players practice from the comfort of the indoor facility,
which will be located behind
the Kent State University
Golf Course.
Throughout the planning stages for the facility,
top consideration was always
given to providing young
men and women with the
best possible opportunities
to succeed — both on and
off the golf course. That’s
why key phrases used to describe the new golf teaching
and learning facility include
“year-round functionality”
and “emphasis on learning.”
One highlight of the facility
will be the entryway, where a
“Gallery of Champions” will
recognize all championship
teams, academic All-Americans and other Kent State
golf greats.
Page speaks of the standard of excellence inherent
in Kent State programs.
He notes that this standard
mirrors the philosophy embraced by his mentor, friend
and lead project contributor,
Dr. Emilio Ferrara, ’59, and
his wife, Margaret. Theirs
was the first charitable lead
trust ever made to the Kent
State Foundation in the
history of the university, and
it made possible the completion of the first phase of
construction on the facility.
Page says he is well aware
that individual gifts have
made all the difference in
the realization of his dream.
“In our community, we can
be very proud of this facility,
which is being funded entirely with private gifts,” he says.
“You get one chance, one opportunity to build something
that will be here forever for
future student-athletes. This
facility is for them.”
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BESTING GOLIATH
Local business gains competitive edge
with help from Kent State
By Melissa Edler, ’00
are made to an industry
standard, but White Rubber Corporation wanted
to know if one was better
than the other. “We’re
known to have the best
gloves because they’re the
most flexible,” explains
James Sabo, White Rubber Corporation’s director
of operations. “We wanted
to prove this scientifically.”
He called on Tom
Southards, outreach
program manager and
director of the Manufacturing Small Business
Development Center at
Kent State.
“We help connect
small businesses with specialty resources for their
field,” says Southards, who
referred White Rubber
representatives to Darwin
Boyd, ’82, Ph.D. ’91, assistant professor, School
James R. Sabo is director of operations for The White Rubber Corporation,
of Technology, who had
worked as an independent which partnered with Kent State on research to prove the superiority of its
contractor at NASA Glenn rubber-insulating gloves for electrical workers.
Research Center.
on all five tests.
involved,” says Boyd.
“I knew NASA had done
It was indeed: A small
“This is something a
lots of research on astronaut
company gained a comsmall company like ours
gloves,” says Boyd. With
petitive edge over its goliath
could not have done by
access to NASA’s testing
competitor; a university
itself,”
says
Mark
Royle,
chief
procedures, Boyd and a
provided hands-on experioperating
officer,
The
White
team of Kent State students
ence for its students and
Rubber Corporation. “By
used similar tests to comhelped local business; and a
partnering with Kent State,
pare White Rubber’s gloves
we were able to do something quarter-million U.S. workers
with its competitors’ in grip
know more about a product
that’s usually only affordable
strength, dexterity, intethat makes their dangerous
for large corporations.”
grated hand performance,
jobs safer.
“Although
it
didn’t
infatigue and comfort.
For more information
volve
a
million-dollar
grant,
The results? White Rubvisit
www.kent.edu/
this
project
was
important
ber gloves outperformed the
and worthwhile for everyone magazine.
leading competitive brand
Photograph by G a r y H a r w o o d , ‘ 8 3
W
earing thick protective gloves, you pull a
wrench from your tool belt
to tighten a bolt. As you turn
the wrench, it slips from
your hand and falls to the
ground with a clang. For
most people, a dropped tool
is not a big deal. But what
if you’re 75 feet in the air
working with more than
20,000 volts of electricity?
Across the country, a
workforce of more than
268,000 line workers installs
and maintains electrical,
cable and telecommunications lines, according to the
U.S. Department of Labor.
Without these almost-invisible workers, we wouldn’t
have the electricity, cable
television, Internet and
telephone services we rely
on every day.
A major issue for these line
workers is safety. Besides working with lethal amounts of
electricity, they often are making emergency repairs in adverse weather conditions. Key
to their protection are special
rubber-insulating gloves, made
primarily by two companies in
the United States.
Recently Kent State University researchers partnered
with one of those companies,
the White Rubber Corporation in Ravenna, Ohio, to
conduct an independent
study comparing performance between the two
companies’ rubber-insulating gloves.
Line worker gloves
page
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9:01:21 AM
SUCCESS
is no secret
Upward Bound attracts quality students
to Kent State
A
lthough the odds
were against them, Josh Ryder
and Tocina Tarver succeeded
and are proud to call themselves Kent State University students. They made it
into college because they
persevered and took on new
challenges that no one else
in their families had.
Ryder is studying math
and was accepted into the
Honors College during the
fall 2005 semester. Tarver is
pursuing a degree in pre-med
biology. Both are freshmen,
and both credit Upward
Bound for the success of their
academic careers.
A federally funded
program that was created by
the Higher Education Act of
1965, Upward Bound targets
students who will be the first
in their household to graduate from college, as well as
students from families with
limited incomes. It provides
the foundation for these
students to succeed in college and also aims to remove
the barriers they may face
through the application process and in preparation for
college entrance exams.
“To help students reach
their goal of attending college, we bring them to the
university to experience
page
college life, and then we
address, one by one, the
expectations they need to
meet to reach that goal,”
says Dana Lawless-Andric,
M.Ed. ’01, associate director, Pre-College Programs
at Kent State. “By the time
our students reach Kent
State, they are ready and appreciate the preparation and
work they put in to get here.”
The preparation for
college served Ryder well,
he says, as he proudly touts
a 4.0 GPA for post-secondary classes he took at Stark
State College in Canton,
Ohio, and 3.75 GPA for his
first semester at Kent State.
“I came to Kent State
with 23 college credits
because of Upward Bound,”
Ryder says. “The workshops
and programs helped me
reach my goals by supporting me emotionally — we
are like one big family.”
The connection and
support provided by the
Upward Bound team at
Kent State wins favor with
students who graduate from
the program and encourages them to pursue their
degrees here.
Some go a step further
by giving back to the
program.
Photographs by G a r y H a r w o o d , ‘ 8 3
By Elaine Laps,
Kent State Public Relations Student
High school student Donna Thomas attends an Upward Bound class on
anatomy and physiology.
During an early Saturday
morning Upward Bound session for high school students,
Tarver showed up to volunteer for a program in which
she thoroughly believes.
“If your kid stumbles in
college, it’ll be okay because
they’ll have Dean Nelson
and Ms. Lawless-Andric
there to help them,” Tarver
told a room full of parents.
And Ryder agrees, saying that even if he had the
chance to go to college
anywhere else, he wouldn’t
have, because of the support
he has received from Kent
State’s Upward Bound team.
“It’s our aim to bring a
higher caliber of students
to Kent State and to help
with the university’s overall
retention,” says Geraldine
Hayes Nelson, ’78, M.Ed.
’81, associate dean, Undergraduate Studies. “The students we bring in through
Upward Bound are a credit
to our success.”
More students are on their
way to Kent State because
of the program’s reach and
representation in the high
schools of surrounding counties. For example, Hector
Sanchez, a junior at McKinley
High School in Canton, Ohio,
is considering studying both
computer science and linguistics at Kent State.
“I think this combination
will give me a good base for
a job that can take me anywhere in the world,” Sanchez
says. “I eventually want to
get a Ph.D. in linguistics,
and I really want to travel.”
At the moment though,
he’s concentrating on getting
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own barriers and beat the
odds, including, for example,
the program’s own Nelson
and Annalisa Williams, a
1977 Kent State graduate
who is currently a judge on
the Akron Municipal Court.
“Our programs teach
students the importance of
education while infusing valu-
able leadership skills that help
them persevere,” LawlessAndric says. “As a result, the
success rate is high, and the
stories of what these students
have overcome are plentiful.”
Kent State’s involvement
with Upward Bound has
expanded since the program
started here in 1971. Today
the university is the only one
in the country hosting three
programs: Upward Bound
Classic Program, which
focuses on general college
preparation; Upward Bound
Math/Science Center, for
math and science preparation;
and Upward Bound PREP
Academy, for general college
preparation with a component for teen parents. The
classic program has served
more than 2,000 students
since its inception at Kent
State; the math/science and
“prep” programs have served
into college and completmore than 400 students each
ing the steps of the Upward
Annalisa Stubbs Williams, ’77, a graduate of the Upward Bound program
since their start in 1998.
Bound program by attendand Kent State, is currently a judge on the Akron Municipal Court.
The data certainly suping the extra workshops and
port claims of success for
Saturday sessions hosted by
Upward Bound programs:
Kent State.
• Nearly 85 percent of
“While I’m here, I’m
students who participate
sure most of my friends
in the Kent State
are sleeping,” Sanchez
Upward Bound programs
says. “But by being here,
have gone on to attend
I’m getting direction on
Kent State;
wherever I want to go in
• 91 percent of students
the world.”
who participate in the
Both current and future
Kent State Upward
students connected with
Bound programs enroll
Kent State through their
in college (somewhere,
involvement with Upward
not necessarily at Kent
Bound are slated for great
State), compared with 63
things, Lawless-Andric
percent of all Ohio recent
says, because these students
graduates, according
care about their education
to the Ohio Board of
and future.
Charles Cantale, ’74, M.Ed. ‘77, talks with students in an Upward Bound
Regents (2002).
For times when students class at Kent State while Geraldine Hayes Nelson, ’78, M.Ed. ’81, associate
do stumble and need help
dean, Undergraduate Studies, and director of Upward Bound Programs at
For more information,
along the way, they can look Kent State, listens. Cantale is now a professor and the director for College
visit www.kent.edu/
up to alumni of the proAccess Programs and special assistant to the dean for development at
magazine.
Minnesota State University.
gram who overcame their
page
18-19_Upward Bound.indd
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19
9:02:23 AM
S t u d e n t
S u c c e s s
Photograph by J e f f G l i d d e n , ' 8 7
Found in
Translation
Student honored for translation
of Russian children’s memoirs
By Melissa Edler, ’00
“I
t surprises me people the children of these families.
don’t know about or remem- Looking for the answer to that
ber the Gulag. It affected so
question led her to Children
many people,” says Deborah
of the Gulag.
Hoffman, a graduate student
“I was so moved by this
in the foreign language
story that I wanted to make
translation program at Kent
people aware of what these
State University.
children had been through,”
Hoffman received a 2005
says Hoffman.
PEN Translation Award
“Hungry and tired from
for her English translation
of Children of the Gulag, a
walking several miles on foot,
collection of letters, diary
we arrived at a squat, dark
entries and reminiscences
of Russian children whose building, which turned out to be
lives were affected by the
the dining hall. ... Every bowl
Gulag, a Soviet system
had more than a dozen flies
of forced-labor prison
camps. Given by the
floating in it. At that time none
PEN American Center,
of us could eat that soup. ... We
the PEN Translation
Fund Grant promotes the
constantly went hungry there.”
publication of translated
— Testimony of Al’dona Volynskaia,
world literature in English
who lived in a Soviet orphanage for
by American translators.
four years after the arrest of her
From the 1920s
parents in 1938. She now lives in
through the 1980s in the
Moscow. From Children of the Gulag,
Soviet Union, between
trans. Deborah Hoffman.
18 and 20 million people
were placed in camps, either
By translating these Rusas common criminals or
sian memoirs, Hoffman hopes
political prisoners. Millions
to give the children — now
died from overwork, starvaadults — the opportunity to be
tion and maltreatment. While
remembered by having their
reading about the Gulag and
life stories heard by future
the arrests of women whose
generations. One boy, for exhusbands had fallen out of
ample, was taken away from his
political favor, Hoffman
mother who was arrested when
wondered what happened to
he was only three years old.
page
Deborah Hoffman, a graduate student in the foreign language
translation program, received a 2005 PEN Translation Award for her
English translation of Children of the Gulag.
Sent to an orphanage where
they changed his name, he has
no idea who he really is or who
his parents are. “I really feel a
personal responsibility to these
kids,” says Hoffman.
Hoffman’s interest in the
Russian language and culture
began in college when she
took her first Russian language class. “It just resonated
with me,” says Hoffman.
“There’s a depth in Russian
literature, because it’s one of
the few modes of expression
the people had.”
In 1991 Hoffman participated in a study abroad
program to the Soviet
Union; she lived there for
four months and loved it despite the difficulties. For example, even making a phone
call could be an ordeal. “I
stood in line for eight hours
at the telegraph office to call
home,” says Hoffman. “Once
you were finally at the front
of the line, you were told
which booth to use.”
On the day she flew
home, the Soviet Union
dissolved. As the Cold War
ended, Russian-language
study became less relevant in
the United States. “Though
Russian was my first love, I
decided to be practical and
went to law school,” says
Hoffman. As a lawyer, she
represented abused children
in the juvenile court system.
However, law was a timeconsuming career, and Hoffman wanted more time with
her family. She decided to go
back to school for her first
love, Russian.
Next year, Hoffman plans
to visit Russia and meet
some of the Gulag survivors whose stories she has
translated. With recognition
from the PEN grant, she also
hopes to publish her version
of Children of the Gulag, the
first English translation.
For more information, visit www.kent.edu/
magazine.
Online
Exclusives:
Do you enjoy reading
about Kent State students
and their interesting and
exciting activities?
Visit www.kent.edu/
magazine to read more!
20
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9:03:03 AM
Creating
“NEW LITERACY”
Leaders
Educator encourages nontraditional
media in the classroom
I
magine sinking into a
soft, oversized chair, kicking
off your shoes and resting your feet on the ottoman. A steaming mug of
hot coffee and flickering
vanilla-scented candle are
on the end table next to you.
The family pet lies on a rug
beside a roaring fire. You
open a book to a dog-eared
page that holds your place
and slowly lose yourself in
a tale of fantasy, intrigue
or true-life drama. Do you
remember the last time you
had such an experience?
Neither do I.
“Most of us spend more
time reading a screen these
days instead of a page,” says
William Kist, Ph.D. ’99,
an assistant professor in the
Department of Teaching,
Leadership and Curriculum Studies at Kent State
University’s Stark Campus.
The average adult reads
a screen, whether it’s a television or computer, for more
than six hours a day, as compared to a half hour spent
reading printed materials,
according to a recent study
by Ball State University’s
Center for Media Design.
“This is transforming
our notion of what reading
is,” says Kist, a leading
researcher in the multimedia literacy field. He says he
believes we need to broaden
our definition of literacy beyond print, a concept often
defined as “new literacy.”
At home, kids are using
the Internet, downloading
MP3 files, participating in
online games and instant
messaging. “Kids are using
alternative literacies outside
school, so we need to make
sure we allow them to work
with these new media in
school as well,” he adds.
Many educators agree
with Kist’s philosophy, and
some have already leapt outside the boundaries of print.
In his recent book, New
Literacies in Action: Teaching and Learning in Multiple
Media, Kist, who received
a grant from Kent State’s
Research Center for Educational Technology to complete his research, highlights
several of these teachers and
their methods.
For example, Kist visited
a school in Montreal that’s
considered a last stopping point for at-risk kids
before they drop out. What
he saw was inspiring. Two
teenage boys were working on complex animations
of interacting characters.
Photograph by B o b C h r i s t y, ‘ 9 5
By Melissa Edler, ’00
William Kist, Ph.D. ’99, assistant professor, Teaching, Leadership and
Curriculum Studies, promotes the importance of “new literacy” in his
recently published book.
“There was a real sophistication and eloquence to
what they were composing,
even though print was only
a small part of the process,”
says Kist. “Somebody finally
was reaching these kids after
years of being marginalized
by traditional schooling.”
Kist puts his theory
into practice, requiring his
students to create projects
that use elements of new
literacy along with traditional media. Students with
the most innovative ideas
accompanied Kist to present
them at the National Council of Teachers of English
Conference in Pittsburgh in
November.
In a world dominated by
technology, Kist says students need to be competitive
in new literacies, as well as
in traditional methods.
“The goal is to help our
students become not just
literate citizens,” he says,
“but leaders in literacy.”
For more information,
visit www.kent.edu/
magazine.
page
20-21_SSuccess&NewsFlash
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21
2:46:26 PM
F l a s h
Tyler Lee Gaston (1980-2004),
a senior English major at Kent
State at the time of his death.
The new Wick Poetry Corner
features a collection of 20thand 21st-century poetry, named
in his memory.
Poetry finds a home
The second floor of the
Heat and power project
earns state award
The Ohio Department
of Development describes
the Governor’s Award for
Excellence in Energy as
Photograph by G a r y H a r w o o d , ‘ 8 3
Kent State University
library is now home to the
Wick Poetry Corner, a place
for students, faculty and
community members to
read, write and gather for
small group discussions. The
Poetry Corner also features
the Tyler Lee Gaston Poetry
Collection, a circulating
collection of 20th- and 21stcentury poetry.
The Gaston collection
was created in the memory
of Tyler Lee Gaston, son of
University Provost Paul
Gaston and his wife, Eileen.
Tyler Lee Gaston
(1980-2004) was a senior
English major at Kent State
University at the time of
his death. He participated
in the Wick Poetry Center
Outreach Program, teaching poetry to students at
Miller South School for the
Visual and Performing Arts
in Akron and at Maplewood
Career Center in Ravenna.
Tyler was a gifted poet, as
well as an artist and musician. He also worked at the
University Library and had
planned to pursue a master’s
degree in library science
after graduation.
For more information,
visit www.kent.edu/
magazine.
Kent State Provost Paul Gaston, Robert Wick, ’57, and Chris Wick
celebrate the dedication of the Wick Poetry Corner and the Tyler Lee
Gaston Poetry Collection at the Kent State Library.
page
Photograph by G a r y H a r w o o d , ‘ 8 3
N e w s
The combined heat and power project within the Kent State power plant
relies on this natural gas-fired turbine.
a program that honors
individuals, businesses,
industries and organizations
that have improved Ohio’s
economic competitiveness
and its environment through
the effective, efficient and
innovative use of energy. In
November 2005, Kent State
University was a recipient of
an award for its combined
heat and power project.
The project began in
May 2002 with the installation of new natural
gas-fired electric generators (turbines), with heat
recovery steam generator
units. A second generator,
powered by natural gas or
No. 2 low sulfur fuel oil,
was also installed. These
turbines have the ability to
produce almost 90 percent
of the Kent Campus’ need
for electric power in the
winter months, and 60 percent of its need for electric
in the summer months.
With 60,000 pounds
of steam per hour from
the steam recovery units,
almost 55 percent of the
university’s steam needs
are provided by the dis-
charged heat from the
turbines. This heat, which
is normally released to the
atmosphere, is instead being
utilized in the production of
steam.
The turbines operate
daily to meet the university’s
fluctuating power demands.
In addition, a base load of
power is purchased from
a local utility or another
supplier. Since purchasing
power from the local utility
is substantially less expensive
during off-peak periods, the
turbines will typically not
be used to produce power at
night and on weekends.
In the event of a
power failure due to the
local utility, Kent State’s
power system has the ability to isolate itself from
the utility and continue to
produce a majority of the
power requirements for
the university, enabling
the institution to remain
open and functional. This
additional functionality
improves the university’s
ability to deliver electricity to its students, faculty
22
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Photograph by J e f f G l i d d e n
On hand for the October 2005 dedication of the Murphy Mellis Field for Kent State women’ field hockey
were (left to right): Dr. Susan Murphy; Mel B. Mellis, ’68; field hockey coach and 2005 MAC Coach of the
Year Kerry DeVries; and Kent State President Carol A. Cartwright.
and staff in their quest for
knowledge through teaching
and research. This reliability
also ensures power for the
almost 7,000 students who
live in the residence halls.
For more information,
visit www.kent.edu/
magazine.
New field hockey field
named in honor of
donors
M
el B. Mellis, ’68, has a
special connection to the
women’s field hockey program at Kent State. Over
the last several years, he
has been watching the team
mature and has quietly made
sure that its needs were
met by providing funds to
pay summer school tuition,
cover travel expenses and
purchase new footwear.
Recently, the team had
a much larger need: a new
playing field. Mel and his
wife, Dr. Susan Murphy,
made a leadership gift
of $300,000 that made it
possible to move forward
with construction of a field
designed specifically for
the sport. The team had
previously played at Dix
Stadium. Long-range plans
called for the team to get
its own facility after nonregulation Astroturf was
installed at Dix Stadium to
improve the playing surface
for football games.
The Murphy Mellis
Field, which will serve as
the home playing field for
the team, is located behind
Dix Stadium on the Kent
Campus. The facility not
only will benefit today’s
players, but also will
help the Department of
Intercollegiate Athletics
recruit future student-athletes to play varsity field
hockey while pursuing
Kent State degrees.
Mellis is chair of the
Kent State University
Foundation Board, as well
as the National Athletic
Development Council.
For more information,
visit www.kent.edu/
magazine.
Democracy symposium
to examine policy debate
Kent State’s seventh
annual Symposium on
Democracy, “Irreconcilable
Differences? Science,
Religion and Politics
in Democratic Policy
Debates,” will be held
May 1 and 2 on the Kent
Campus. The Symposium
on Democracy is held
annually to commemorate
the events of May 4, 1970.
These symposia provide
ongoing opportunities
to learn important
lessons from the past
about the meaning and
expression of democracy
in a pluralistic society.
Dr. James L. Gaudino,
dean of the College of
Communication and
Information, and Dr. John
L. West, vice president
and dean, Division of
Research and Graduate
Studies, are co-chairs of
the symposium planning
committee.
Symposium activities
are free and open to
the public. Advance
reservations are not
necessary.
For more information,
follow the link at www.
kent.edu/magazine.
Biosafety Facility to Prepare First-Responders
In a world of terrorist alerts and threats, the need for a
stronger defense against biological attacks is paramount.
Kent State opened its state-of-the-art Biosafety Training
Lab in October 2005 as part of a national effort to teach
procedures and protocols to those working with and
responding to attacks involving harmful biological agents.
The laboratory features state-of-the-art equipment for
microbial DNA detection, real-time microbe counting and
Web cameras, so advanced training activities can be taught
in the new laboratory and viewed over the Internet. It also
provides a simulated environment for training, where students follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) protocol and are trained to detect bioterrorism
without manipulating the actual biological agents. The
laboratory will not house select agents.
The Northeast Ohio Consortium for Biopreparedness
(NEOCB), headquartered at the Kent Campus, is one of
only two CDC biosafety laboratory training facilities in
the United States.
For more information, visit www.kent.edu/magazine.
page
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23
9:04:31 AM
A l u m n i A s s o c i at i o n
CLASS NOTES
From the President
of the Kent State
University Alumni
Association
Gary Brahler, ’89
F
or many students and
alumni, it will be difficult to
imagine Kent State without
Dr. Carol A. Cartwright as
president. While the university is losing a dynamic leader,
it has never been in a better
position to address the needs
of students, alumni and the
community. Kent State has a
bright future and is ready to
continue on a path of success
as it moves toward its centennial in 2010.
As this milestone in the
university’s history approaches, now is a great time to become
more involved with Kent State. The nominating committee
for the National Alumni Board of Directors is seeking alumni
leaders to serve on our board. If you are interested in serving
or would like to submit a nomination on behalf of a fellow
alumna or alumnus, please e-mail me at alumni@kent.edu or
send your nomination to:
Nominating Committee
Kent State University Alumni Association
P.O. Box 5190
Kent OH 44242-0001
Names for nomination should be sent to the board’s
Nominating Committee by April 4, 2006.
As president of the Alumni Association’s National Board
of Directors, I am pleased to serve as a member of the search
committee to find Dr. Cartwright’s successor. I look forward
to representing the interests of Kent State’s 170,000 alumni as
we look for an individual to lead our alma mater.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, I want to extend
congratulations and best wishes to Dr. Cartwright for a welldeserved retirement. Her contributions to Kent State have
created a legacy that will not be forgotten.
page
’42
Dorothy (Kime) Currier, Fort
Myers, Fla., retired in 1983
from Jefferson Area Local
Schools, Jefferson, Ohio,
where she taught music
for 36 years. Dorothy and
her husband, Cliff, formerly
employed as coordinator
of Continuing Studies at
the Kent State Ashtabula
Campus, recently celebrated
their 60th wedding anniversary.
’45
Luella (Heupel) Cordier,
Akron, Ohio, published a
book called Out of Their
Silence: A Memoir of Philip
and Julia, which recounts
being raised by her deaf
mother and father. *
’56
Nicholas T. Giorgianni,
Novelty, Ohio, has received
the Founders Medal from
Delta Upsilon fraternity. *
’62
Bill Schmidt, Spotsylvania,
Va., is the general counsel
at Universities Research
Association in Washington,
D.C. *
’66
Peter El-Gindi, New York, N.Y.,
has been appointed director
of the Bureau of Construction
Management in the Office
of Design and Construction
at the Human Resources
Administration in New York
City. *  Rick McDonald,
M.A., Roswell, Ga., senior
vice president of programming for Susquehanna Radio,
retired after 33 years with the
company.
’68
William P. Buchanan, M.P.A.,
Wichita, Kan., has been
the manager of Sedgwick
County since 1991, and in
June 2005 was elected to
serve as president-elect for
the International City/County
Management Association. *
 Bob Pirtle, Bellingham,
Wash., is employed at
Thomson in Belmont, Calif., as
a publisher.  Glenn Schultz,
M.A. ’70, Pittsburgh, Pa.,
was promoted to vice president for WTW Architects.
*  Barbara (Hille) Sposet,
Ph.D. ’97, Cleveland, Ohio,
has recently joined the
Baldwin Wallace College
faculty. Sposet resigned
from her position at Notre
Dame College to become
an associate professor of
middle childhood education
at Baldwin Wallace.
’70
Richard Kearney, Bristol,
Conn., is employed by the
city of Middleton, Conn.,
as an economic development specialist.  Donald
McKale, Ph.D., Clemson,
S.C., Class of 1941 Memorial
Professor of Humanities at
Clemson University, received
the Choice: Current Reviews
for Academic Libraries
Outstanding Academic Title
award for his book Hitler’s
Shadow War: The Holocaust
and World War II. McKale
also has published two books
on Nazi diplomat Curt Prüfer
with Kent State University
Press.  Bob Van Bergen,
Windermere, Fla., is general
manager of Reunion Resort
and Club in Reunion, Fla. 
Bob Wernly, Parker, Colo., is
the owner of BobKat Inc.
’72
Vicki A. Hendricks , B.A.,
M.A. (both in 1972), North
Plainfield, N.J., is a research
information specialist with
NPS Pharmaceuticals in
Parsippany.  Ed Mills,
Dunedin, Fla., is a consultant
with Fujitsu Consulting. * 
Howard Sanders, Charlotte,
N.C., is a commercial field
underwriter for Nationwide
Insurance. *  Philip Weck,
Kennett Square, Pa., was
recently appointed to senior
director, project and portfolio
management in research
* Annual Member * Life Member
24
K ENT S TATE M AGAZINE
24-27_Classnotes.nf.indd
• VOLUME
24
5 • I SSUE 3
1/5/06
9:06:40 AM
A l u m n i A s s o c i at i o n
and development at Centocor
Inc. He has more than 25 years
experience in the pharmaceutical
industry. He holds a Ph.D. from
Northwestern University and
has authored multiple papers,
abstracts and review articles. *
’73
Mark Cramer, Toledo, Ohio,
is employed as a teacher
in Toledo Public Schools.
*  Chris (Eldridge) Salton,
Murrysville, Pa., is employed by
Massaro Corp. in Pittsburgh. *
’74
Dick Dickerson, E. Northport,
N.Y., is employed as an internal
IT manager at Pricewaterhouse
Coopers in Jersey City, N.Y. 
Joyce Glowacki, M.Ed. ’80,
North Bloomfield, Ohio, is
retired.  Sherrie Graham,
Mobile, Ala., is president/editor of LAWoman magazine
online. *  Julie Anne (Myers)
Guffey, M.A. ’78, Stow, Ohio,
has retired following 30 years
teaching in public schools,
28 of which were with the
Kent City Schools. *  Kathy
(Moore) Heine, M.A. ’75, Avon
Lake, Ohio, is employed by
Cuyahoga County as the deputy
public defender. *
’75
Peggy (Flack) Ake, Howard,
Ohio, is employed as a parent
educator with the Knox County
Department of Jobs and Family
Services in Mount Vernon,
Ohio. *  Nancy Cottle,
Mesa, Ariz., is the owner of
an advertising specialty and
promotional product company
called The Branded Image. *
 Joe Kocian, M.A. ’78, Kent,
Ohio, is department chair of
technology with the Shaker
Heights Board of Education. 
Nancy (Hribar) Matz, Richmond
Heights, Ohio, is owner/photographer of Zena Photography
in Cleveland.  Joan (Knaack)
Williams, M.Ed. ’82, has retired
from teaching. *
’76
Judith Barnes-Lancaster,
Massillon, Ohio, an attorney
serving as special counsel to
the Ohio Attorney General,
joined Mercy Medical Center’s
Board of Directors. She practices privately in Canton and
is principal and president of
Global Management Group Inc.,
a sports entertainment company. *  Michael A. Cesa,
Chagrin Falls, Ohio, was selected by the Kent State Alumni
Association and the Greek
Alumni Chapter to receive the
Greek Alumni Chapter’s 2005
Distinguished Alumni Award.
The presentation was made in
April. *  Stephen Colecchi,
Ravenna, Ohio, is the president
and chief executive officer of
Robinson Memorial Hospital.
*  Joseph P. Opatz, Saint
Cloud, Minn., has been named
interim president of Central
Lakes College in Brainerd. 
Dan Slanco, Arlington, Texas, is
employed as a financial analyst
at General Motors. *  David
Steinhauer, Portsmouth, Va.,
is a professor at Tidewater
Community College.
’77
Richard Buday, Houston, Texas,
is president of Archimage and
was elected AIA (American
Institute of Architects) Fellow
in February 2005.  Larry Griffin,
Wadsworth, Ohio, recently
completed his term as 89th
president of the Kiwanis Club
of Akron, Ohio, and as an Akron
Roundtable board member.
Griffin is vice president and
COO of the Akron Area YMCA.
*  Bruce Vernyi, Akron, Ohio,
was named editor-in-chief for
Penton Media Inc.’s American
Machinist Group publications.
’78
Thomas Haren, M.A. ’87, Canton,
Ohio, was selected by the
Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund
as a master teacher to represent the United States in Japan
during the summer of 2005.
He taught biology and English
in Matsuyama, Japan. * 
Patrick Keating, Hudson, Ohio,
is employed by Buckingham,
Doolittle and Burroughs LLP in
bankruptcy and creditor-debtor
rights law, and was listed in the
2006 edition of Best Lawyers in
America. *  Yvonne (Devon)
Trotter, Ph.D. ’02, East Liverpool,
Ohio, accepted a full-time
faculty position as an assistant
professor of special education
at Geneva College in Beaver
Falls, Pa. *
’79
Phyllis (Allen) Harper, M.L.S.,
Shaker Heights, Ohio, is
employed as the head librarian
at Hathaway Brown School.
 David Lewis, Hudson, Ohio,
is employed by Buckingham,
Doolittle and Burroughs LLP in
tax law and was listed in the
2006 edition of Best Lawyers
in America.  Bruce Miller,
Alliance, Ohio, is employed
as an environmental specialist at the Ohio Environmental
Protection Agency in
Twinsburg.  Mark Moyer,
Zanesville, Ohio, is a financial
adviser for Merrill Lynch. 
Al Stahl, Loveland, Ohio, is
employed as a consultant at
Xperianz. *  Daniel Watkins
Jr., Buffalo, N.Y., is employed as
a police officer with the Buffalo
Police Department.
’80
John Leipzig, Ph.D., Pigeon,
Mich., is retired. He was the
dean of the College of Liberal
Arts at the University of
Alaska Fairbanks. *  Hassan
Shirtavani, M.Ed., Mountain
View, Calif., is corporate financial controller with Cavium
Networks.  Judie Zimomra,
Sanibel Island, Fla., is employed
by the City of Sanibel as the
city manager. *
’81
David Jaspers, Aiken, S.C., is a
senior instructor of mathematics at the University of South
Carolina Aiken, where he has
taught for 19 years. *
’82
Michael Pagan, M.A. ’85, Lees
Summit, Mo., is a pianist and
composer. Capri Records has
released his fifth CD, Pag’s
Groove.
’83
Mari Ann (Cecelones)
Hathaway, Prosperity, Pa.,
has been elected president
of the Washington County
Bar Association. Hathaway is
active in the Pennsylvania Bar
Association as a member of the
Pennsylvania Bar Association
House of Delegates. She is in
private practice in Washington,
Pa.  Joseph Milczewski,
Leesville, S.C., is the engineering manager at Shakespeare
Company in Columbia.
’84
Thomas E. Mageros,
Henderson, Nev., is employed
as an executive casino host
at MGM-Mirage Corp.  Geoff
Stephenson, Bowling Green,
Ohio, is an instructor of voice
performance and music at
Bowling Green State University.
’85
Jim Nash, Aurora, Ohio, the managing partner of Marcus Thomas
LLC, was appointed to the board
of directors of the MAGNET
Marketing Global Network. He
joins the board as the vice president of finance. *
’86
Mark Oleksiak, Ladera Ranch,
Calif., is employed in the U.S.
Army as a product manager,
FCS, BCT. *  Paul Sciullo,
South Yarmouth, Mass.,
is employed as a pilot for
USAirways.  Eleni Siatra,
M.L.I.S., West College Corner,
Ind., is employed by Indiana
University East, Richmond, as a
reading lab coordinator.
’87
Charlotte (Baker) Sievert, Akron,
Ohio, is a medical librarian at
page
24-27_Classnotes.nf.indd
25
1/5/06
25
9:06:52 AM
A l u m n i A s s o c i at i o n
the Barberton Citizens Hospital in
Barberton.
’88
John Gray, Westfield, N.J., is
the vice president of architectural services at K. Havnanian
Co. LLC in Edison.  Susan
(Kramer) Jensen, Concord, N.C.,
is executive producer at News
14 Carolina for Time Warner
in Charlotte.  Thomas Saxer,
Hudson, Ohio, has been named
a rising star in the 2005 edition
of Ohio Super Lawyers. Saxer is
a partner in the law firm of Amer
Cunningham Co. LPA in Akron.
 Janice (Obert) Sudia, Norton,
Ohio, is employed as an application development consultant at
Goodyear in Akron.
’89
Sister Ellen Beebe, Parma, Ohio,
is a teacher at St. Columbkille
School.  Preston A. Postle,
Bay Village, Ohio, was one of
the teachers participating in the
workshop, “Why Mark Twain
Matters: Strategies for Teaching
Twain in the 21st Century,” held
in July at The Mark Twain House
and Museum in Hartford, Conn.
Postle teaches language arts and
drama at Avon High School, Avon.
 Scott Reid, M.A. ’91, Ph.D. ’99,
Harlingen, Texas, was promoted
to associate professor of sociology/criminology at the University of
Texas, Brownsville. Reid was also
recently awarded the University
Apple Teaching Award.
’90
Edythe Dean, Fort Jennings,
Ohio, is a substitute teacher and
authored the book Over the Top
and Back — They Answered
Their Countries’ Call. * 
Michelle (Hildebrandt) Dolensky,
Mantua, Ohio, is a habilitation
manager with Children Services
Board–MRDD in Akron. *
’91
Holly Barnes, Fort Lauderdale,
Fla., is employed as a realtor for
Prudential Florida WCI Realty.
 Edward Bizjak, M.L.S. ’91,
Akron, Ohio, is a librarian at
page
Akron-Summit Public Library.
 Peggy (Dickerhoff) Coyne,
Ravenna, Ohio, is employed as a
Web designer with Progressive
Insurance in Highland Heights. *
 Cynthia (Maxwell) Spellman,
M.Ed. ’97, Stow, Ohio, is
employed as a teacher at
Nordonia City Schools in
Northfield.
’92
Valerie (Cessna) Campbell,
Warren, Ohio, recently became
a Certified Management
Accountant and is employed
with TCP Inc. in Aurora, where
she was promoted to chief
financial officer. *  Malissa
(Babe) Grimm, M.Ed. ’05, Dover,
Ohio, is employed by the Indian
Valley Schools in Dover.  Jack
Grdic, Canfield, Ohio, is the
sales manager at television station WFMJ in Youngstown. *
’93
Janine (Herstine) Garber,
Bolivar, Ohio, was hired as
senior tax manager at Rea &
Associates in New Philadelphia.
’94
Kenneth Clemons, Cleveland,
Ohio, is an educator at
Cleveland Municipal Schools.
 Ben Danals, Ostrander, Ohio,
is an intervention specialist for
Dublin City Schools.  Jeffrey
Syroney, Cincinnati, Ohio, is the
executive director of InkTank.
 Brenda (Duffield) Vogley,
A.A., B.S. ’97, Akron, Ohio, is
employed as a marketing and
special events manager with
Junior Achievement of East
Central Ohio.
’95
Pamela Baird, Atwood,
Madison, Wis., was recently
promoted to health care recruiter with Absolute Solutions,
Boston, Mass.  Travis Bautz,
Beavercreek, Ohio, is employed
at Dayton Metro Library as the
manager of adult services. 
Nathan Cramer, Canton, Ohio, is
a computer technician at Kent
State University Stark Campus.
 Davida (Hoppenstand) Frick,
Westerville, Ohio, is employed
as the director of The Paragon
Group in Columbus. *  Nicole
Kotlan, M.Ed., Gahanna, Ohio, is
employed as a relationship services manager at Alliance Data
Systems.  Peter McAllister,
Ph.D., Tucson, Ariz., is the
director of the school of music
for the University of Arizona.
 Kathleen (Henning) O’Neill,
Macedon, N.Y., is employed as
a project manager with Xerox.
 Kerri (Kutz) Salvino, M.B.A.,
Massillon, Ohio, is a senior
human resources representative with Diebold in Uniontown.
 Michael Stuhler, Greensboro,
N.C., was promoted to curriculum designer for business
customer services training at
Cingular Wireless.
’96
Carlo Burns, Columbus, Ohio, is
employed as a project manager
for Lusk and Harkin Architects.
 Dawn Kearns, Stow, Ohio,
is employed by Kent State
University as a teaching fellow.
’97
Aaron Bueno, Annapolis,
Md., is employed by MCI in
Beltsville. *  Justin Litz,
Pottstown, Pa., is employed by
CEC Associates Inc. as a proofreader/front office coordinator
in Valley Forge.  Shannon M.
McCormick, Columbus, Ohio,
is a reporter for NewsCenter
on ABC-6 and FOX-28 in
Columbus. She was selected
by the Ohio Academy of Family
Physicians as the 2005 recipient
of its Friend of Family Medicine
award, which is given annually
to recognize either an elected
official or member of the media
who has worked or reported on
issues related to family medicine in Ohio.  Traci O’Brian,
Boardman, Ohio, is employed
as a teacher for Boardman
Schools.  Monica Whaley,
Plain City, Ohio, is employed by
Jonathan Alder School District
as an English as a Second
Language teacher.
’98
Anne Marie Chicorelli, Severn,
Md., was among 239 physicians awarded the Doctor of
Osteopathic Medicine Degree
from Philadelphia College of
Osteopathic Medicine in June
2005.  Michael DiFranco,
Twinsburg, Ohio, is employed
as associate publisher with GIE
Media in Cleveland.
Mark Fink, Toledo, Ohio, is
assistant director for course
development at the University
of Toledo.  Elizabeth (Murch)
Hooper, Loveland, Ohio, is a
copy editor/copy writer for
RGI Design in Cincinnati. 
Chad Mayle, Canton, Ohio,
is employed by Rea and
Associates Inc., Medina, Ohio,
as a client service specialist.
 Matthew Stotz, Westerville,
Ohio, has recently been
assigned to the Ohio State
Highway Patrol’s Governor
Security Detail. *
’99
Rabon Allen, Cleveland, Ohio,
is a pediatric epilepsy coordinator for University Hospitals
of Cleveland.  Wanda Folger,
Salem, Ohio, is employed as
an accountant at Midcap and
Company CPAs in Akron. * 
Pat Gannon, Wilmington, N.C., is
employed as a city hall reporter
for Star-News.  Toni Hare,
Columbus, Ohio, is program
manager at Ross Heart Hospital
at Ohio State University Medical
Center. *  Valerie Nome,
Rutherford, N.J., is a staff writer
for OK! Magazine in New York
City.  Craig Steinbrink, Gates
Mills, Ohio, is the vice president
for McDonald Financial Group
in Cleveland.  Helen (Mason)
Suchy, M.Ed., Mayfield Heights,
Ohio, is a third grade teacher at
Pinnacle Academy in Euclid. *
’00
Tony Clemens, West Grove, Pa.,
is employed as a fitness specialist at AstraZeneca in Wilmington,
Del.  Nan Garrison, Kent, Ohio,
is a special projects cataloger
at Bluffton University in Bluffton.
* Annual Member * Life Member
26
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• VOLUME
26
5 • I SSUE 3
1/5/06
9:07:03 AM
A l u m n i A s s o c i at i o n
L o s s e s
*  Anita (Davis) Higy, M.Ed.,
Bloxom, Va., is employed as a
teacher at Accomac County
Public Schools in Accomac.
’01
Mark Campana, Cincinnati,
Ohio, is employed by Marquis
Healthcare Canton, Ohio, as
the DME coordinator/site
manager.  Torre Delap, Kent,
Ohio, is employed as a case
manager R.N. for Summa Health
Systems, Akron.  Janelle
(Hall) Ellis, Oil City, Pa., is a
television news reporter and
fill-in anchor at the ABC affiliate, WTAE-TV, in Pittsburgh.
’02
James Crandall III, New
Philadelphia, Ohio, was recently
hired as a staff accountant
at Rea and Associates. 
Scott Diehl, New York, N.Y., is
employed by Merrill Lynch and
Co. Inc. as a credit derivatives
analyst.  Andrew L. Hostetler,
Louisville, Ohio, is a social studies teacher with the Louisville
City School District.
’03
Elizabeth (Warstler) Combs,
M.E.D., Medina, Ohio, received
her Ed.S. degree in school
psychology from Kent State
University.  Erika Dabrowski,
Phoenix, Ariz., is employed as a
buyer with Desert Mountain in
Scottsdale.
’04
Brian Blystone, B.Arch. ’05,
Apollo, Pa., is employed by
Radelet McCarthy Inc. in
Pittsburgh. *  Jason Bouck,
Greenville, N.C., is the associate director of annual giving at
East Carolina University.
’05
William Bartolini, Ph.D.,
Boston, Mass., is the vice
president for development for
Northeastern University. * 
Jennifer Doles, Kent, Ohio, is
a teacher for Portage County
Educational Services Center. 
in the ksu family
’30
Edna M. Barrett, Santa Cruz,
Calif., passed away.
’36
Catherine J. (Few) Brainard,
Millersport, Ohio, passed
away. Gerald H. Read,
Charlotte, N.C., passed away
in September 2005. A distinguished emeritus professor
in education at Kent State,
Read established the Gerald H.
Read Center for International
and Intercultural Education
as a resource for students
and faculty of the College and
Graduate School of Education,
Health and Human Services
and for the greater Kent and
world community.
’41
Roy E. Boyle, Dublin, Ohio,
passed away in August 2005.
Boyle was regional manager
at B.F. Goodrich in New York
City until his retirement in 1985.
He served in the U.S. Air Force
during World War II.
’42
Dr. Joseph S. Blair, Columbus,
Ohio, passed away in March
2005. He is survived by his wife,
Marjorie Jacob Blair, also a ’42
Kent State graduate.  June
(Arnold) Rice, Chester, Va.,
passed away in June 2005. She
had retired following a career
as a home economics and
speech teacher.
’44
Susan J. Kenash, Youngstown,
Ohio, passed away in June
2005.
’48
Barbara A. Ashby, North
Canton, Ohio, passed away in
December 2003.
'51
Lt. Col. Melvin S. Frank, M.A.,
Niles, Ohio, passed away in
August 2005. He was a retired
teacher.
’53
Edward Core, Pittsburgh, Pa.,
has passed away. He was
president of Window Systems
Inc. in Pittsburgh. During his
time at Kent State, he was
business manager for the
Chestnut Burr.  Jessie
June (Stuart) Gulbranson,
M.Ed. ’61, Anna Maria, Fla.,
formerly of Kent, Ohio, passed
away in May 2005. She was a
retired educator of the hearing impaired and handicapped
in Ohio and Florida. Among
other survivors are her son
and daughter-in-law, Adelbert
(Bert) and Suzanne Stuart, who
are employed at Kent State,
and two of her grandchildren,
Jacquelyn and Michael Stuart,
who are currently students at
the university.
’70
Daniel R. O’Connell, Dallas,
Texas, passed away in
December 2004. In addition
to his career with the Heart
Association, Sprint, GTE and
other organizations, he was
actively involved in peace and
social justice issues and the
Maria Kannon Zen Center in
Dallas.
’55
Robert B. Ashby, M.Ed., North
Canton, Ohio, passed away in
July 2005.
FRIENDS
James R. Schubert, Kent State
University trustee, passed
away. Schubert was appointed
to the Board of Trustees in
1998. He served as the Kent
State board’s representative
to the NEOUCOM Board of
Trustees since 1999, including
his 2005-06 service as chair
of the NEOUCOM board. He
also has served as chair of the
Kent State board’s institutional
advancement and finance
committees, was secretary of
the board for two years and
was an active member of the
President’s Council and the
Blue and Gold Club.
’57
Bruce A. Humphries, Marion,
Ohio, passed away in July 2005.
’58
Donald W. Peters, Dover, Ohio,
passed away in February 2005.
 Gerald J. Petrofes, M.Ed.
’62, Palmyra, Pa., passed away
in June 2005.
’68
Richard Dickerhoof, M.A. ’73,
Massillon, Ohio, passed away
in September 2005. Dickerhoof
worked as an audiologist for 27
years in Canton.
’73
Mary L. (King) Wood, New
London, Ohio, passed away
in March 2005. Wood was a
teacher for 18 years and owner
of Back Door Florist.
’04
Brenda Anderson, M.S.A. ’05,
Zanesville, Ohio, passed away
in August 2005.
’69
Stephen F. Beckenholdt,
Baltimore, Md., passed away
in July 2005. He was an associate professor at The College
of Notre Dame of Maryland. 
Dr. William A. Pakan, Ph.D ’74,
Akron, Ohio, passed away. He
is survived by his wife, Patricia
Pakan, Ph. D. ’75.
page
24-27_Classnotes.nf.indd
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27
2:47:20 PM
A l u m n i A s s o c i at i o n
Honoring EXCELLENCE
Alumni Association names distinguished teachers
Winners of the 2005 Distinguished Teaching Award are (from left): Dr.
John Jewell, M.A. ’79, Ph.D. ’85, associate professor of English, Kent State
Tuscarawas; Dr. Carolyn Brodie, professor, School of Library and Information Science; and Dr. David Dalton, professor of instructional technology,
College of Education, Health, and Human Services.
T
hree Kent State faculty
members can now add the
word “distinguished” to
their long list of accomplishments. The Alumni
Association awarded the
Distinguished Teaching
Award (DTA) to some of the
university’s most dedicated
tenure-track educators.
Dr. Carolyn Brodie,
Dr. David Dalton and Dr.
John Jewell received one of
Kent State’s highest faculty
honors at the Celebrating
College Teaching conference in October.
Each received a crystal
apple, $1,500 and the satisfaction for being honored
for a job well done.
Brodie, a professor in
the School of Library and
Information Science, has
taught at Kent State since
page
1989. She created a distance learning program
for School Library Media
Specialists.
“Dr. Brodie understood
the challenges I faced as a
long-distance, nontraditional student,” says Eileen
Bosch, a student who was in
Brodie’s Library Materials
and Services for School-Age
Children class. “She was
always prepared for classes;
showed tremendous respect
for her students; and always
made sure that all her
students understood the
material.”
Brodie was also the principal investigator and codesigner of the Reinberger
Children’s Library Center.
Dalton, an associate
professor of instructional
technology in the College
of Education, Health, and
Human Services, is pas-
sionate about teaching
his students, says Marian
Maxfield, a graduate student
who has been in a number
of Dalton’s classes.
“Dr. Dalton is always
learning,” she says. “He
actively pursues new knowledge and skills inside and
outside his field, and he
passes this knowledge on
to his students. He used his
personal time to create ‘Folioweb,’ a system that allows
students to showcase their
work in an online portfolio.”
Jewell, M.A. ’79, Ph.D.
’85, an associate professor of English at Kent
State’s Tuscarawas Campus, utilizes technology to
reach students throughout
Kent State’s eight-campus
network. Jewell has received
the Tuscarawas Campus
Most Popular Professor
Award four times.
“Dr. Jewell went out of
his way to help students,”
says student Amanda Inverso,
who was in two of Jewell’s
English classes. “You could
come to him at any time,
and he’d explain what you
were doing right and wrong,
without making you feel like
a failure.”
Sponsored by the Kent
State Alumni Association, the
Distinguished Teaching Awards
honor the university’s tenure-track faculty. Finalists are
nominated by students, alumni,
faculty and staff. To nominate
a tenure-track faculty member
for the 2006 awards, visit
www.kent.edu/alumni/Get
Involved/DTA.cfm.
Photograph by G a r y H a r w o o d , ‘ 8 3
Photograph by G a r y H a r w o o d , ‘ 8 3
By Beth Baldwin, ‘05
Outstanding Teachers Named
Posing with Kent State president Dr. Carol A Cartwright (second from the
left) are the winners of the 2005 Outstanding Teaching Award (from left):
Sheri Leafgren, ’84, M.Ed. ’87, Thomas Rutledge and Juliann Dorff, M.A.T. ‘98.
The awards for non-tenure track faculty were announced by the University
Teaching Council at its annual conference. Read more about these outstanding educators at www.kent.edu/magazine.
28
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9:07:54 AM
A l u m n i A s s o c i at i o n
Sun? Ski? You Choose!
Alumni Association offers
new resort vacations benefits
By Jahel J. Guerra, Kent State Journalism Student
he Alumni Association
has teamed up with University Alumni Travel Benefits
(UATB) to offer association
members a new benefit that
adds value to their memberships. Lori Randorf, M.B.A.
’99, associate director of
alumni relations, says the
relationship with the travel
benefits firm offers members
exclusive vacation deals.
“Members interested in
travel can take advantage of a
vacation value that would be
difficult to find somewhere
else,” she says. “Through this
program, members can enjoy
the conveniences and amenities of a vacation rental at an
unbelievable discount.”
The University Alumni
Travel Benefits program,
which began in 2004 and
now serves more than 100
universities, offers everything
from studio apartments and
condos to full-size homes and
villas in some of the world’s
most beautiful destinations.
Whether Alumni Association members are planning a
family vacation or a relaxing
trip for two, they can choose
from vacation rentals at more
than 3,500 resort locations in
more than 80 countries.
Randorf says members
can pick from a variety of
resort vacation rentals for as
low as $349 per week, including beachfront properties,
country homes and ski cabins.
Also, resort-style com-
GO FLASHES!
A
s s the Mid-American Conference
(MAC) tournament approaches in a few
weeks, it’s time to get ready to show your
spirit and support the Golden Flashes men’s
and women’s basketball teams. The 2006
MAC tournament is scheduled as follows:
Women’s Schedule
March 4 First Round — Campus Sites
March 8 Quarterfinals — Cleveland
March 10 Semifinals — Cleveland
March 11 Championship — Cleveland
Men’s Schedule
March 6 First Round — Campus Sites
March 9 Quarterfinals — Cleveland
March 10 Semifinals — Cleveland
March 11 Championship — Cleveland
Alumni Association members can take advantage of new travel benefits
and vacation deals.
munities are available for
those who prefer to be in the
center of the action or enjoy
the off-season tranquility
in popular locations. Even
if a last-minute plan comes
up, members can travel on
14 days notice or less under
the “Off-Season and Short
Notice” rentals.
For more information
about packages and vacation
opportunities, follow the
links under “Member Benefits” at www.ksualumni.org.
To book vacation rental,
car rental and hotel discounts offered through this
program, members must
contact the Alumni Association at 888-320-5368
or 330-672-5368 to receive
the special code required to
access this benefit.
MAC basketball tournament events scheduled
By Jahel J. Guerra, Kent State Journalism Student
The Kent State Alumni Association
and Intercollegiate Athletics will once
again host pre-game celebrations at
Flannery’s in Cleveland two hours before
each tournament game the Golden
Flashes play. Flannery’s is located at 323
Prospect Ave., just a short walk from the
Quicken Loans Arena.
If you are planning to attend any of
the games at the Quicken Loans Arena in
Cleveland, please order your tickets from the
Kent State athletic ticket office at 330-6722244. For more information about tickets,
pre-game celebrations being organized by
the Alumni Association and other details,
please go to the Alumni Association’s Web
site at www.ksualumni.org., or call 330-672KENT or 1-888-320-KENT.
Photograph by J e f f G l i d d e n , ‘ 8 7
T
Senior forward Kevin Warzynski puts up
a shot during the 2005 MAC Tournament
game against the Ohio Bobcats. Visit
www.ksualumni.org for details on this
year’s tournament action.
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A l u m n i A s s o c i at i o n
Life Members
of the Kent State University Alumni Association
T
he Kent State University Alumni Association strives to support the mission of Kent State University and provide
its members with benefits and services. As space permits, Kent State Magazine will acknowledge new and current
life members of the association. A partial list has appeared in each issue since spring 2004; additional names will appear
in future issues. A complete list of life members can be found at www.ksualumni.org. For information on becoming a
life member of the alumni association, call 330-672-KENT or toll free at 1-888-320-KENT.
page
Suzanne Adams, Aurora, Ohio
Craig Latham, Cleveland, Ohio
Carolyn Mehl, Clinton, Ohio
Bruce Alexander, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
Kristen Latham, Cleveland, Ohio
Rebecca Meland, Naples, Fla.
Kathleen Alexander, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
Maria Latona, Westlake, Ohio
Wayne Meland, Naples, Fla.
John Arnsby, Toledo, Ohio
John Masline, Santa Barbara, Calif.
Mel Mellis, Bratenahl, Ohio
Leah Babb, Streetsboro, Ohio
Allen Maurer, Akron, Ohio
Kjera Melton, Kent, Ohio
Sherry Bacon-Graves, Leavittsburg, Ohio
Terri Maurer, Akron, Ohio
Fred Mendiola, Kent, Ohio
James Bailey, North Olmsted, Ohio
John McCarthy Esq., Naples, Fla.
Edward Menger, North Olmsted, Ohio
James Bailey, Ravenna, Ohio
Arlene McClain, Painesville, Ohio
Louis Mertic, Clinton, Ohio
Kelly Bailey, North Olmsted, Ohio
Margaret McClusky, North Canton, Ohio
Mary Mertic, Clinton, Ohio
Philip Belzunce Ph.D., Rocky River, Ohio
Daniel McCombs, Kent, Ohio
James Merz, Hilliard, Ohio
Constance Brent, North Ridgeville, Ohio
Joyce McCombs, Kent, Ohio
Sharri Merz, Hilliard, Ohio
Richard Brent, North Ridgeville, Ohio
Kathleen McDowell, Collegeville, Pa.
Barbara Mesek, Fairlawn, Ohio
Thomas Browne, Chagrin Falls, Ohio
Robert McFarland, Vonore, Tenn
Frank Mesek, Fairlawn, Ohio
Burwell Buchanan, Kill Devil Hills, N.C.
Albert McGoogan, Placerville, Calif.
Adolphus Messenger, Massillon, Ohio
Sara Burky, Uniontown, Ohio
John McGreevey, Rocky River, Ohio
Carol Messenger, Massillon, Ohio
Sandra Busler, Carrollton, Ohio
James McCarthy, Monument, Colo.
Jaime Messenic, North Canton, Ohio
Elsie Butts, Hampton, Va.
Ann McConnell, Denver, Colo.
James Messerly, Stow, Ohio
Valarie Campbell CPA, Warren, Ohio
Kay McCord, Denver, Colo.
Mary Messerly, Stow, Ohio
Lori Cantor, Ravenna, Ohio
Linda McCowen, Middleburg Heights, Ohio
Lorree Meyer, Cleveland, Ohio
Carol Chamberlain, Hudson, Ohio
Robert McCullagh III, New Philadelphia, Ohio
William Meyer, Cleveland, Ohio
Gail Cheslock, Akron, Ohio
Susan McCullagh, New Philadelphia, Ohio
Youssef Mhemedi, Cleveland, Ohio
Leonard Cheslock, Akron, Ohio
Margaret McCullough, Amsterdam, N.Y.
Xiang-Dong Mi, Rochester, N.Y.
Linda Christopher R.N., Lake Milton, Ohio
John McElroy CPA, Phoenix, Ariz.
Timothy Michel, New Philadelphia, Ohio
Marya Cline, Kent, Ohio
Wendell McElwee, Cincinnati, Ohio
Donna Middaugh, East Canton, Ohio
Robert Cohen, Dover, Ohio
Norene McEowen, Louisville, Ohio
Raymond Mihalacki, Chardon, Ohio
Nancy Cottle, Mesa, Ariz.
John McGinley, Belle Vernon, Pa.
Walter Mika Jr., Springfield, V.A.
Lynne Crawford, Stow, Ohio
Kathy McGovern, Houston, Texas
June Mikkila, Mesa, Ariz.
Ilona Daw-Krizman, Chardon, Ohio
Lisa McGreal, Strongsville, Ohio
Patricia Miles, Lynchburg, V.A.
Jodi Dearth, Benton Ridge, Ohio
Charles McGuinness, Warren, Ohio
Kenneth Millard, Uniontown, Ohio
Kellee Disbro, North Hollywood, Calif.
Henry McGuire, Columbus, Ohio
Albert Miller, Pittsburgh, Pa.
John Elliot, Charleston, W.Va.
M. Joelle McIlroy, Alliance, Ohio
Angela Miller, Marysville, Ohio
David Evans, Kent, Ohio
John McKay, Cornelius, N.C.
Beverly Miller, Kent, Ohio
Raymond Falcione, Rockville, Md.
Ruth McKay, Kent, Ohio
Denise Miller, Chagrin Falls, Ohio
Jay Firzlaff, Kent, Ohio
Barbara McKee, Stow, Ohio
Donald Miller, Kent, Ohio
James Flynn Sr., Maumee, Ohio
Michael McKee, Seattle, Wash.
Eugene Miller, King George, Va.
Carol Freeman, Baltimore, Md.
Judy McKinstry, Canton, Ohio
Gwendolyn Miller, North Ridgeville, Ohio
Amil Garcia, Louisville, Ohio
Larry McKinstry, Canton, Ohio
James Miller, Niceville, Fla.
Eric Gardner, Berea, Ohio
James McKirahan Jr., The Villages, Fla.
John Miller, Pompano Beach, Fla.
Kenneth Gozur, Davie, Fla.
Lee McMannis, Hudson, Ohio
Kenneth Miller GRI, Parma Heights, Ohio
Lalei Gutierrez Ph.D., Rocky River, Ohio
Nancy McManus, Hudson, Ohio
Marc Miller, La Mirada, Calif.
Laurence Hallewell, Reynoldsburg, Ohio
Becky McNeil, Kent, Ohio
Margaret Miller, Orrville, Ohio
Douglas Hanzel, Savannah, Ga.
Richard McNeil, Kent, Ohio
Margaret Miller, Kent, Ohio
Nancy Hanzel, Savannah, Ga.
Deborah McNutt, Whitehouse, Ohio
Mercedes Miller, Pompano Beach, Fla.
Julia Harber, Ravenna, Ohio
Bea McPherson, Hartville, Ohio
Nancy Miller, Bloomington, Ind.
Robert Hyde, Ravenna, Ohio
Daniel McVey, Parma, Ohio
Paul Miller, Big Flats, N.Y.
Mary Jaeger, Corpus Christi, Texas
Helen Medley, Kent, Ohio
Sara Miller, Kent, Ohio
Eula Keaton, Elizabethtown, Pa.
Anita Meeker, Akron, Ohio
Susan Miller, Sagamore Hills, Ohio
John Kennelly, Norfolk, Va.
David Meeker, Akron, Ohio
Thelma Miller, Farmdale, Ohio
E. Sallie Kilgore, Stow, Ohio
Michael Meenan Sr., Wooster, Ohio
Thomas Miller, Columbus, Ohio
30
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1/5/06 9:25:15 AM
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
MEMBER PROFILE
Major Sarah Deal, ’92,
Marine Corps’ first female pilot
Three years after graduating from Kent
State University, Major Sarah Deal
became the first female Marine Corps
aviator. Following 12 years of active duty,
What Kent State means to you
My college experience opened my eyes. It was liberating.
I was raised in Pemberville, Ohio, a small farming town, and
Kent State was so different, so diverse.
Deal transferred to reserve status and is
now the static display coordinator for the
Miramar Air Show. She is a resident of
San Diego, Calif., and enjoys participating in triathlons. Deal holds a degree in
aerospace flight technology.
Greatest lesson learned at Kent State
Don’t pretend you’re something you’re not. Our student
flight team was scolded for wearing Navy aviator wings
with our uniforms. “You haven’t earned the right to wear
those wings,” we were told. Three years later I put them
back on, having earned them. That day meant a lot to me.
Favorite residence hall memory
When I lived in Beall Hall, we collected our blue slips
and used them as wallpaper.
Kent State person who influenced you most
Ruth Sitler. Ruth was a senior flight instructor. She was
100 percent dedicated to the students, opening her
house to me when the dorms closed over winter break.
Why I joined the Alumni Association
To stay connected to Kent State. Without my flight
experience and degree, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
Members support programs that:
• Build and sustain lifelong relationships;
• Encourage learning and professional growth;
• Celebrate the successes of alumni, faculty and students;
• Share the excitement of university accomplishments.
www.ksualumni.org
KSU Alumni ad 2.06 11
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A l u m n i A s s o c i at i o n
Class of ’56 to Celebrate Reunion
Volunteers needed for planning committee
Homecoming 2006 marks
the 50th Reunion for the
Class of 1956. To ensure that
this special occasion is appropriately celebrated, volunteers
for a reunion planning committee are needed.
Rae Mandel, ’56, a life
member of the Alumni
Association, has already
agreed to help.
“I appreciate everything
that has happened in my
life since graduation,” says
Mandel. “Kent State’s campus is beautiful, and I had
such a wonderful experience
there. When my husband and
I go back to Kent, it’s like we
are in a different world.”
As part of the class
reunion festivities, the Kent
State archway, which was a
gift from the Class of 1956,
will be rededicated and given
a new home on campus. It
will be viewable from Janik
Drive off Summit Street
and will be part of the new
Esplanade, a scenic walkway
that leads through the center
of campus.
“The Esplanade is just
one of the campus improvements that will greet you
upon your return to campus for the reunion,” says
Elizabeth Slanina, assistant
director of alumni relations.
“Homecoming is a great time
to reunite with friends and
come back to the place that
shaped your adult life. We
hope to have a great turnout
from the Class of 1956.”
All class members are
invited to participate in
committee planning meetins beginning in early
spring. To volunteer for
the planning committee,
please contact Slanina at
eslanina@kent.edu or at
1-888-320-5368.
New Annual Membership Category
OFFERS CONVENIENCE, COST SAVINGS
As the Kent State University
Alumni Association continues to expand, attract and
retain members, the National
Alumni Board of Directors
has approved an enhanced
annual membership category:
a three-year dues option that
offers both convenience and
cost savings.
The new annual
membership provides a
three-year discounted rate
of $95 for individuals and
$135 for couples. The one-
year regular annual rate
for individuals is $35, for
couples, $50.
“We are continuing
to listen to current and
prospective members to
find ways to make it as
convenient and attractive as possible for alumni
to join and then continue
their involvement with
the Alumni Association
and Kent State,” says Lori
Randorf, M.B.A. ’99, associate director of the Kent
State Alumni Association.
In addition, Randorf
says alumni should consider what is becoming
an increasingly popular
option: a life membership
to the Alumni Association.
Current life membership
rates are $500 for individuals (one payment of $500
or five payments of $100 a
year), or $600 for couples
(one payment of $600 or six
payments of $100 a year).
The Alumni Association
also offers half-price senior
life membership rates for
alumni 62 and older: $250
for individuals and $300 for
couples.
For more information,
call the Alumni Association
at 330-672-KENT (5368)
or 888-320-KENT.
Information about member services and benefits
is available on the Alumni
Association Web site at
www.ksualumni.org.
Online Exclusives:
Visit www.kent.edu/magazine for the Homecoming 2005 wrap-up as well as these alumni profiles:
• Mike Giancola, M.Ed. ’95, aids tsunami survivors
• Disney Teachers of the Year Brian McCombs, ’90, M.Ed. ’98, and Guy Frangipane, ’76, M.Ed. ’80
• Ole Gilbo, ’66, goes global
page
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Remembering a loved one.
It can be as simple as stating in your will that certain assets will go to a charitable cause that
is meaningful and will honor the person whose memory you cherish.
Alumni Jim, ‘69, M.A. ‘77, and Judy, ‘68, Leffingwell made a substantial will bequest to
create a scholarship in memory of their daughter, Julie Lynn Leffingwell, ’98, who passed away
shortly after earning her Kent State degree. Julie’s grandmother, Josephine Koelwyn, also
joined in this bequest. To commemorate Julie’s life, the university planted a red maple tree
on campus near the Department of Residence Services, where she had worked as a student.
Through this endowed scholarship, Julie will forever be a part of the campus she loved.
To learn more about including a charity in your will, visit the
Center for Gift and Estate Planning at www.kentstate.plannedgifts.org.
FOUNDATION
P.O. Box 5190
Kent, Ohio 44242-0001
Phone: 330-672-2222 Fax: 330-672-3049
giftplan@kent.edu
www.kentstate.plannedgifts.org
Kent State University, Kent State, KSU and Imagine are registered trademarks and may not be used without permission.
KSU
Foundation ad 2.06 11
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12/21/05
m A G a z i n e
Alumni Awards Events
Listed below are college and
department alumni awards programs
scheduled for spring 2006. More
information can be found by calling the
numbers indicated.
For a complete listing of concerts,
lectures, performances, exhibits
and other events at Kent State's
eight campuses, visit www.kent.edu/
ecalendar.
Feb. 11
Varsity K Hall of Fame
330-672-2078
April 8
College of Business Administration
330-672-2772
April 9
Honors College
330-672-2312
April 11
School of Library and
Information Science
330-672-2782
April 28
College of Arts and
Sciences
330-672-2650
Photograph by G a r y H a r w o o d , ‘ 8 3
Spring 2006
Stark County Alumni
Chapter
330-244-3224
April 29
Greek Alumni Chapter
330-672-5368
School of Technology
330-672-2892
Students from area schools participate in “Giving Voice,” a part
of the Wick Poetry Center’s Outreach Program. The sixth annual
“Giving Voice” will be held at 7:30 p.m. April 26 at the Kent State
University Auditorium.
May 5
Health Education
and Promotion
330-672-0679
May 6
Kent Student Ambassadors
330-672-5368
KENT STATE UNIVERSITY, KENT STATE, KSU AND IMAGINE ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS AND MAY NOT BE USED WITHOUT PERMISSION.
Non-Profit Organization
U.S. Postage Paid
Kent State University
PO Box 5190 • Kent, OH 44242-0001
101188
University Communications and Marketing
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
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